Darkness Falls
by ShinigamiDeathscytheSan
Summary: A series of Gundam Wing ficlets and drabbles I think up randomly. Ranging from simply adorable to terribly angsty... yaoi 01x02. LATEST: Ace - Duo comes out to Heero as asexual.
1. Darkness Falls

**well here's the first installment of this fic... i wrote this a few days ago, and i have no idea where in the series it fits. its just depessing :D**

**oh, and it be Duo**

* * *

It was midnight when he opened his amethyst eyes to the brilliant white moonlight.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He gazed out the crystal clear window at the empty night.

"Why...?" the quiet word escaped his dry lips as he blinked away the last bit of sleep. He couldn't help but wonder why he had awoken at such a time, even if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Almost in a daze, he stood from the bed and nearly stumbled to the door. Even though he was alone in the old, creaking house, he felt the desperate need to be quiet as a mouse. He couldn't disturb the peaceful silence of night.

Barefoot, he stepped outside into the cool, crisp night. His wiry body was enveloped in the moon's silvery light, making his already pale skin seem as white as the bandages at his wrist. The night's icy white glow made his long, braided, brown hair nearly shimmer as the wind gently blew back his unruly bangs.

He took a deep, calming breath of the clean air; he had never imagined Earth would be so beautiful.

He stared up, past the twinkling stars, past the moon, to where the Space Colonies were suspended in the nothingness. It had been so long, yet only days had passed since he had last been there, fighting alongside the person that made his entire life worthwhile; fighting for the peace that this world so desperately deserved.

He reached up, grasping the empty air as he tried to hold onto the nothingness. His heart ached, memories flashing across his vision of the last time he saw his lover in that final battle; pale, bloodstained hands reaching, reaching...

He couldn't help it as the anguish-filled tears welled up in his eyes and streamed down his cheeks. He couldn't help it as he grabbed at his throbbing chest and closed his violet eyes tight against the pain. He couldn't help it as he fell to his knees and the desperate cry tore from his throat. He couldn't help it...

"HEERO!!!"

--Owari

* * *

**well there you have it. next installment comin in a few minutes.....**


	2. Important Word

**well, i got this idea and i had to write it, so here you go. i think its very sweet :D**

* * *

Duo snuggled against Heero in their warm bed, holding his strong body close.

Both were dressed in pajamas, Duo in a large, black, long-sleeve shirt and flannel PJ bottoms; while Heero wore a soft, navy-blue t-shirt and bottoms just like his lover's, only of a different color.

Even though it was too dark to see it, they could hear the icy winter rain pounding against the bedroom window. The room was chilly, but the pair was warm in the bed, their bodies generating plenty of heat.

"You know," whispered Duo, opening his violet eyes to look up at Heero.

"Yes, Duo…?" asked the Wing pilot, a subtle hint of love and caring hidden in his monotone.

"When I learned all the different languages between us five pilots, I never learned a lot of words… very important words…" Duo sighed and buried his face into Heero's shirt for a moment, breathing in his familiar scent. "I've been learning those special words, and there's one that I know now, that I believe holds more meaning than any other."

Heero wrapped his arm around Duo, gently rubbing his lover's back as he held him close, "And what would that word be?"

Duo sat up in the bed, fighting off the chill as the blankets fell from his shoulders. He moved so that his face was mere inches from Heero's, their eyes locked.

"Aishiteru," whispered Duo.

A loving smile spread across Heero's face, "And I you." He pulled Duo towards him, closing the small amount of space between them with a passionate kiss.

* * *

**well there you have it. and idk when i'll finish the other ficlets.... so yeah :D until next time!**

**'Aishiteru' means 'i love you' in japanese btw... hehe. **


	3. Competition

**okay, well this one's definetly longer! i got inspired for it when me and **Zoey04 **were playing Mario Kart Wii over the weekend... god that was fun XD **

**so i changed it up a little, the two of them are playin Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and so all the stuff about the game belongs to nintendo, yadda yadda yadda.... :3**

**enjoy!**

**oh, and in this one, these two arent a couple yet... but Duo's got a crush on Heero :D**

* * *

Duo smirked, "Well?"

"No," growled Heero.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please…?"

"I said no."

"I'm not gonna quit bugging you till ya say yes."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Fine," Heero sighed, making his way into the living room to sit on the loveseat sofa.

"Yes!" grinned Duo as he plopped down next to the Wing pilot. He reached over to the coffee table to pick up two of the four Wii remotes and handed one to Heero.

Duo turned on the TV and then turned on the Wii system. After waiting impatiently for the game system to load, he clicked the gaming part of the menu and loaded the game.

"Well, pick your character, Heero," instructed the Deathscythe pilot with a smirk.

"How do I use this ridiculous thing?" he asked in a monotone, glaring at his fellow pilot.

"Here, let me show you," said Duo, a slight blush coloring his cheeks as he leaned over and took Heero's strong hands in his, helping him with the controls.

"Okay, so your left thumb controls movement and your left pointer—here, put it over that button—lets you jump. The 'A' button is a basic attack and 'B' is your special attack. You can do combo attacks and so on… just experiment with it when we start, 'kay?" Duo removed his hands from the other's and turned to face the TV, doing his best to hide his reddened face.

The Deathscythe pilot pointed at the screen with the remote in his right hand, "Pick who you wanna fight as. You'd probably like someone like Samus cuz she fights with a powerful gun like you do… ha ha, or Ike or Link since they use swords. I think Ike's the best, he's got some killer moves." He couldn't hide his huge grin.

Duo watched as Heero's cursor on the screen moved to click on Link. Smirking, he chose a battle stage, one of the custom ones, that is; and the battle began.

"C'mon Heero, try to get your guy to beat the shit out 'a mine!"

"This is ridiculous."

Duo gently nudged Heero with his elbow, urging him to play. The Wing pilot simply glared.

**Half an hour later…**

"What?! Gah! You're so cruel, Heero!" exclaimed Duo, eyes wide, as his character was launched clear off the stage after a 'Final Smash' attack. His expression of shock darkened into one of playful revenge, "Oh, you're goin' down now!"

"Mission accepted," said Heero, his monotone just barely expressing his amusement at the game. His cobalt eyes were sparkling with an expression of… _fun?_

--

_Ike raced towards Link, giant sword in hand. The two exchanged blows, but Ike was persistent in pushing the other towards the edge of the stage. With one powerful, charged slash from Ike's heavy blade, Link went flying._

--

"Yes!" exclaimed Duo, nearly jumping up.

The score was currently at a tie.

Heero, barely restraining a small smirk, grumbled something along the lines of 'mission failure' and 'impossible suicide' before using the last few moments of the battle to knock the other off the screen.

"**The winner is: LINK!!"**

Cobalt eyes glittering, Heero placed the Wii remote on the coffee table. "I think you've lost enough for today, haven't you Duo?" he asked with a small smirk.

Duo went bright red, pouting, "Sure! Rub it right in, why don't ya? I never would 'a thought you'd be so good." He crossed his arms, looking away with a smirk.

Heero smiled a small smile before Duo could see, turning to walk back to his room. _'That was fun,' _he wanted to say, _'We should do that again sometime,'_ but he couldn't get the words past his lips. Oh well.

He'd just have to wait for Duo to demand a rematch.

* * *

**heh heh, so since** Zoey04 **and i are pretnding to be heero and duo (i'm duo), the whole 'mission accepted' bit came from when we were playin the other day... i beat her so bad on the Coin Battles XD ((but i suck at the racing part... she always beats me on there XD))**

**well, until next time! .............. *whenever that is***


	4. Lost Souls

**I... i killed them... i actually killed them. i cant believe myself! i blame **Zoey04** and her depression from last night... she killed them first (you should go read it) and that inspired me to write this... AUGH! **

**well, i do really like how it came out... very angsty. so, grab a tissue and read on!**

**tis Duo POV, btw...**

* * *

Lost Souls

It was the end of my world.

Watching him fall... cobalt eyes wide with shock... wide with pain.

That bullet—the one that brought him down—should've hit true to its mark.

It should've killed me. Not him.

Heero didn't deserve to die.

That bullet... once it had lodged itself in his chest, in his heart, he had turned back to look at me. Just one glance before he fell.

I hadn't even registered shooting down the enemy; just I knew that it had been done. I only saw Heero.

I was at his side the moment he hit the ground... I wasn't even fast enough to catch him as he fell. But, nonetheless, I lifted him into my arms and held him close.

His eyes were closed. Those beautiful, cobalt eyes that made him look like an angel... my angel... my pillar of strength that held the world up when it felt as if my life would simply crumble.

My pillar of strength was falling.

I didn't cry; couldn't cry. I had long since forgotten how to shed tears during the war.

And so I just held his limp body close to me, burying my face in his disheveled hair.

I nearly jumped as I felt his arms weakly trying to wrap around me; he was still alive, still breathing.

"Heero," I finally whispered as I looked down at him.

He was staring up at me, cobalt eyes half-lidded. Could he even see me?

"D-Duo..." he gasped, blood staining his teeth, dripping past his lips.

I found myself rambling, fighting off the silence out of habit. I knew what I was saying wasn't, couldn't be true, "It's gonna be okay, Heero... you're gonna be okay. You're gonna make it through this. You... you won't die." My voice was trembling.

He was still staring up at me. There were tears in his eyes.

The small glitter of life in his cobalt orbs... it was fading... fading so fast.

Heero was dying.

Heero Yuy... Shinigami's fallen angel... was dying. His life was slipping away, pooling red on the ground below us. This... this wasn't happening!

I hugged Heero close again, forbidding him to fade away.

"I love you, Heero..."

He didn't speak.

"Please... please don't leave me here..."

He couldn't speak.

"I... I can't live without you..."

He wasn't even conscious anymore.

Too much life had slipped away and darkness had taken him. All that was left now was a trembling, hardly breathing body. A body that looked and smelled and felt just like my Heero.

This couldn't be.

"Heero...?"

No reply. He was barely breathing now.

"Heero, can you hear me?!"

Heero took one last, shaky breath. And then the last bit of his life had faded.

"Heero!!!"

I nearly doubled over as tearless sobs tore from my throat. I clutched Heero's lifeless, inanimate body, holding him so close. I could feel his warm blood against my chest as it soaked through my clothes.

I continued to sob, still not shedding a single tear.

His body was growing so cold...

"NO!! HEERO!!" I cried, staring up at the ominous, dark skies... pleading with a God that I had long since denied. "GIVE HIM BACK!"

The heavens responded with a blinding flash of lightning and a deafening crack of thunder.

_No._

Rain began to fall. But it wasn't one of those soft, cool spring rains; it was a heavy, angry, dangerous rain.

Biting back a scream, I bent down over Heero's body, protecting it from the downpour.

He was like ice now.

I kissed his cold, lifeless lips, my mouth filling with the metallic taste of his blood.

"I love you, Heero. I love you more than anything..."

He couldn't hear me, I knew that. But... just maybe, his spirit was still near, lingering between life and Hell... because there was no way we were going to Heaven.

But maybe his soul could hear me... I hoped to God that it could.

"I love you. You are my everything, Heero. Without you, I... I can't go on... life loses meaning without you beside me."

My hands were shaking.

My hands were shaking as I reached to the ground to pick up my gun.

I didn't even look at it as I turned off the safety and pressed the barrel to my chest. I wanted to go the same way as Heero...

I pulled the trigger.

The pain was blinding. White and red and black flashed across my vision as the bullet tore through my heart.

My hand fell, gun slipping from its limp grasp and onto the ground.

My body slouched over Heero's and I forced myself to continue holding him. We would be together now... he would never leave me. And I would never leave him.

"Hee...ro... I lo-love you..." a single, glistening tear fell from my fading violet eyes.

And then I was gone. Death took me, and I was gone.

Owari-

* * *

**so, what did you think? gah!**

**well, as for other things, i have a TON of drabbles to work on, some that are closed to finnished and others that arent really even close. but i guess i should finish up the really sappy lovey-dovey one soon for you guys, since this one was so sad XD**

**and i'm still working on **Heero's Nightmare**, which i'm going to finish before i post. i'm working on it at school and its somewhat near the end... so that will be soon. other than that, i'm not currently working on any other major stories, except for **Zoey04**'s **Captured**, but that fic isnt going very far anytime soon, i'm afraid.**

**well, jaa!**


	5. Ghost of Me

**well, i just discovered my new favorite song, "Ghost of Me" by Daughtry. and it inspiried me to write this drabble. i thinkg its really cute.**

**and i did promise to upload something funny after the death-fic, but that's not quite donw yet... so this shall suffice. enjoy!**

**oh, and this is hecka post-war. like years. cuz heero's completely normal here, like human-ish XD duo was a good influence X3**

* * *

"Heero..." Duo said groggily, propping himself up on his elbow in bed. It was the middle of the night.

Heero didn't wake, still lost to the world of dreams.

Duo put his hand on the other's shoulder, shaking him gently. "Heero, wake up."

Cobalt eyes fluttered open slowly, staring ahead at nothing. He had his back to Duo.

"Heero...?" asked Duo, somewhat worried, not knowing if his lover had actually woken up or not.

Yawning, Heero rolled over onto his back, turning his head to face the other. "What is it, Duo...?" he asked, voice heavy with sleep. It almost sounded like he was speaking in his old monotone...

It made Duo shiver.

"Heero... do you still... _love_ me?" asked Duo nervously, not sure how to put his fears into words.

"Wha... what do you mean? Of course I love you," said Heero, rolling over onto his side to fully look the other in the eyes.

"Are you sure...?" Duo had a bit of a haunted look in his violet eyes. "Do you still have _feelings_ for me?"

Heero put his hand on Duo's cheek; he felt the other nearly flinch. "I'm very sure. I love you more than anything."

Duo seemed to relax a bit, sighing tiredly. "What are you feeling right now?"

"...Eh?" asked Heero somewhat dazedly; he was falling asleep again. God, he was tired...

But the worry in Duo's voice snapped him right back into to consciousness. "You... you still have emotions and thoughts and feelings... right? You're still... 'Human'?"

Heero sat up, "Duo, what on Earth are you talking about? Of course I have emotions!" Why was Duo acting this way?

"H-Heero..." stuttered Duo quietly, sitting up as well. He looked sad, worried. "You're never gonna go back to being like you were... during the war? You're gonna stay _my_ Heero, right...?"

"Is this what you're so spun up about? You're worried that I'm going to forget all that I've learned from you, loose the life you gave me, gi—"

"Yes..." Duo whispered quietly.

In the next instant, Heero had his arms wrapped around Duo, holding his lover in a tight embrace.

"I thought you knew me better than that, Duo... I thought you knew I'm not like that anymore," said Heero in a quiet, sad voice. Duo was trembling in his arms.

"I thought I knew that too... but..." started Duo, but his voice faded.

"It's because of what one of the Preventer agents at work said today isn't it; the guy that used to be an OZ soldier?" asked Heero, closing his eyes as his lover reached up to return the embrace.

"'You were better when you were an emotionless terrorist, Yuy. It'd be better for all of us if you went back to being like that'," quoted Duo, grabbing at the back of Heero's shirt.

Tightening his grip on his lover, Heero said, "Its okay, Duo. I'm never going to go back to being like that."

"But... but what if what he said was true? That it _is_ better for everyone if you were like that?" asked Duo; he was so scared, so worried.

"I don't give a shit about him, or anyone. As long as you're happy and we're together, that's all that matters. I'll be whoever you want me to be, as long as I can stay by your side..." said Heero in a quiet voice.

"Thank God..." breathed Duo, voice nearly inaudible. Then he whispered, "I-If you went back to being like you were during the war... I... I'd die. I love you. I love you so much... but if you didn't love me back... if you didn't feel anything anymore, my life would disappear." His voice was trembling.

Heero gently rubbed Duo's back, helping him fight off the sobs. "I understand. I'd die too if you stopped being you. I couldn't bear to lose you; any part of who you are."

Heero was going to stay Heero. He wasn't going to change.

Duo hugged his lover tighter, breathing in his familiar, musky smell. "I love you, Heero, more than you could even know..."

"And I you, Duo, and I you..." whispered Heero.

And then Heero quietly began to hum a tune from a song he had once heard, quietly singing the lyrics to Duo.

"Don't look over your shoulder, cuz that's just the ghost of me you're seeing in your dreams...

You're lookin at the ghost of me..."

* * *

**cute? i liked it how heero sang that to duo. very adorable.**

**you should go listen to this song... its so them :]**

**well, until next time! -i dont have anything even remotely close to done right now, so it might be a while...**


	6. Card

**so, i was looking at all the sticky-notes on my wall the other day, and i saw one with a cute little quote on it. you know, like those quotes with the really sweet pictures? ya. so i saw that, and i got a drabble inspiration for it XD **

**so here ya go.**

* * *

I missed him.

He'd been gone for three months already, and he wasn't scheduled to return for another six weeks. He'd been sent away on a special, under-cover mission. He was cut off from the outside world, forced to mingle in with the enemy ranks and attack them from within. I hadn't heard from him, heard of him since the day he was shipped off; and neither had Preventers. It was like he was dead. Lost to another world.

I missed seeing his smiling face, his bright violet eyes, his long, braided hair. I missed hearing him ramble on about the most random things, his voice over the phone telling me he loved me, the soft snores he made when he fell asleep at his desk. But most of all, I missed having him here with me, holding him close in my arms. I missed his smell, how his thin body felt against mine... I missed Duo more than anything.

When I looked at today's date, my heart sank. It was our anniversary.

It was our anniversary, and we weren't together.

Setting my mouth in a straight line, I pushed down all my emotions like I did every day for the past three months. I had to make everybody else think that I was okay, that I could make it till my Duo returned.

But the truth was, I couldn't. I died a little every day that I didn't see or hear from him. With each passing moment, the two of us grew farther and farther apart.

The only thing keeping me living in this lonely time was the last thing he said to me that morning three months ago. What he promised me...

"_I won't die. I swear it. Come back here in 18 weeks, and I'll be here again... I love you Heero. I'm going to miss you more than anything..."_

I let myself frown for a very brief moment as I sat at my desk at Preventers headquarters. I averted my eyes from Duo's vacant desk across the room and focused on my work.

The day slowly went by, and I managed to keep my mind off of darker thoughts.

Around mid-afternoon, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in," I said halfheartedly, pretending to focus on my work.

The woman walked up to my desk—I could tell it was a woman because I could hear her heels clicking on the tile—and placed something on my desk. "A letter has arrived for you, Agent Yuy, sir," she said, voice tight, as if she was afraid of me. She probably was.

I nodded, muttering a quiet "Arigatou" before she turned to leave.

I ignored the letter for several moments, figuring it was something unimportant. I finished what I had been doing.

When I finally looked up, taking the plain envelope in my hands, my eyebrows raised slightly.

The first thing I noticed was that there was no return address; not on the front, or on the back.

The second thing I saw was that it was simply addressed "Heero Yuy, Preventers Headquarters" in an almost illegible scrawl, as if it had not been written with the sender's dominant hand.

When I held the envelope up to the light, I couldn't see what was inside.

My curiosity was beginning to grow.

Grabbing the letter-opener from the desk drawer, I opened the envelope in a bit of a rush. I reached inside, pulling out what appeared to be a homemade card.

"What?" I breathed.

The card was a simple sheet of white construction paper folded in half. There was no writing, no design, no nothing. I opened it.

I gasped. Inside, there was a very little bit of writing, only a few lines. A few lines written in Duo's small, uneven, somewhat messy script. It was clear he had been trying to write neatly. Those few lines read:

_I'd rather die tomorrow than live _

_100 __years without knowing you_

_Happy Anniversary_

_I love you._

And that was it. Four lines. Four lines letting me know Duo was still there, still keeping his promise to come back, to come back alive.

I felt myself smiling at the card, as if it were Duo himself and not a piece of paper that he had sent me.

My hope had been restored. I knew I could make it till my lover returned. It was only six more weeks, and I had already made it through those torturous three months. It wouldn't be long until I had Duo in my arms again, until I could kiss him and tell him I loved him more than anything.

"I love you too, Duo. And I miss you. Come back soon..."

* * *

**cute? i think so. **

**and on my printed version, i actually used a special font for duo's note, so that it looked like his handwriting XD**

**anyways, me and **Zoey04** are co-writing a fic right now, its about half done, i guess, but progress has kinda slowed... and i'm working on some drabbles here and there... but other than that, there's really nothing... :P**

**well, jaa!**


	7. First Day of Summer: Stolen Words

**well, i wrote this for friday, which was the first day of summer D: fortunately, however, we've been having the awesomest weather. its cold and rainy, when itd normally be in the 90s by now XD i love it! so anyways, this really came out of nowhere, so have fun reading it!**

* * *

"It's the first day of summer," said Duo depressingly, yet groggily as he stood up from bed and stretched; his entire body was so sore.

"Why is that... a bad thing?" asked Heero around a sleepy yawn. He was still in bed, buried under the blankets. All that was visible was his mess of chocolate brown hair.

Duo sat down on the bed, lying back to rest his head on Heero's side. "Because, summer means it's hot, and there's _way_ too much sun..." he groaned, staring up at the ceiling.

Because of the blinds on both of the bedroom windows, it was fairly dark in the room. Not pitch black, but still dim enough to sleep. But neither Preventer agent did... at least for the moment.

"There's nothing wrong with sun and heat..." said Heero, rolling over with a wince to look at Duo.

"Says you," scoffed the former Deathscythe pilot. "There's everything wrong with sun and heat. Try wearing all black twenty four-seven, and you'll see what I mean. Besides, I love when it rains... it makes me remember that I actually made it to Earth. That I'm not still lost in the past, struggling to survive back on L-2..." Duo's voice faded, his expression going somewhat distant.

"I understand how you feel. The simulated weather systems on the colonies were always one of the negative things about living there... I remember everyone hated it on L-1," said Heero, his cobalt eyes closing.

"Yeah..." sighed Duo, closing his eyes as well.

Despite how cold it was in the bedroom, Duo managed to doze off, lying against Heero. And Heero fell asleep as well. The two Preventer agents had just returned from a long, painful, stressful mission the day before... they intended to get back as much sleep as they had lost, taking advantage of the short vacation that followed every mission like the one they had just accomplished.

But, about two hours later, Duo awoke, his body freezing, to an ear-shattering boom of thunder. Heero jolted awake as well, his cobalt eyes flying open. The both of them hissed in pain, nearly doubling over, as they instinctively jumped up, ready to face whatever had shocked them into awareness.

Heero, however, sank to his knees, clutching his bandaged stomach. His injuries from the past mission were just as severe as Duo's, but his were much more concentrated in a few areas of his body.

Duo, whose own wounds were aching uncomfortably, rushed to Heero's side. "You okay, 'Ro?" he asked worriedly, helping the other up.

Heero said nothing, letting Duo help him to sit on the bed. He knew his silence was answer enough.

Thunder boomed again, and they both jumped, even though their minds registered what was the source of the sound.

"What the hell?" asked Duo as he limped over to the window, peering through the blinds.

"Is it raining?" asked Heero, despite the pain in his voice. He really needed to get some more rest.

"It's a downpour, actually!" grinned Duo, turning back to face his lover, "So much for a sunny first day of summer!"

Heero smirked before easing himself back into the bed, "Guess it means we gotta—"

Duo finished Heero's sentence, "—Stay in bed and cuddle all day."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," said Heero as Duo crawled into bed beside him.

Duo was grinning his trademark smile, "Oh I did, did I? Well I think I'm going to steal some more words, then." He then leaned over the other carefully, making sure he didn't irritate the gunshot wound in his shoulder. He began kissing Heero deeply on the lips.

Smiling into the kiss, Heero wrapped his bandaged arms around Duo, pulling him closer.

After several minutes, they finally broke apart. Duo fell onto his side of the bed; they were both breathless.

"Was that... enough words... for you?" gasped Heero, turning his head to smile at the other.

Duo was grinning too, "For now... I guess..."

After a few moments, once they had caught their breath, Heero rolled over carefully. He winced, but ignored his pain. He brought himself up to somewhat loom over Duo. "My turn," he smirked, "I'm stealing back those words."

And that was how the two top-class Preventer agents spent their first day of summer.

Thunder boomed, lighting flashed, and rain fell.

* * *

**hehe cheesy, i know :D but you gotta love sap every once in a while. **

**so, school is getting out in 4 days, so imma be writing like crazy all summer! i cant wait! **

**and as for Trapped, me and **Zoey04** are working on it as much as possible. it'll be done sooner than later, i think :D so keep an eye out for it! (we're gonna post it on both our accounts) other than that, however, i dont have much to work on... just a very long, pointless drabble in my notebook full of heero/duosufferitis XD**

**well, until our next encounter...! mwuahaha *needs to go to bed***


	8. You Better Get Ready to Die

**well, i've had this idea for a while, and i finally got around to writing it. its just the whole 'in ep 40, what if heero really did kill relena?' thing. **

**so yeah. its short, but enjoy it anyway.**

**its heero POV, btw :D**

* * *

'_You're dreaming, Relena.'_

Those were the words that echoed through my mind as I drew my gun; as I aimed it down at the girl that had caused such disaster in my life.

From where I stood in the balcony, perfectly disguised as a soldier, I could see everything. I could see all the world leaders, and Queen Relena at her podium.

She continued on with her pacifist speech, preaching words of how Earth and Space must learn to coexist. Finally as her speech came to an end, and she glanced around the huge auditorium, she noticed me.

'_Relena...'_

And I knew she had silently said my name.

She looked down, her expression going serious. This was my chance.

I closed my cobalt eyes, and let my finger slowly pull the trigger. But then, the world leaders below began to clap; began to applaud.

I hesitated, my eyes opening in shock.

But then I realized, even if these people agreed with her nonsense, I still had a mission to carry out. And I would not fail, not this time.

So I pulled the trigger, firing my gun.

Queen Relena fell in a splatter of blood.

She was dead before she even hit the ground. And I knew her last thought had been of me; she probably felt betrayed that I had finally managed to end her life...

Clapping turned into screaming as panic took over.

I holstered my weapon, walking away as if nothing had happened. Somewhere deep inside of me, I was overjoyed, relieved that I had finally put an end to that nuisance. I could now fight this war in peace, and there would be no one to stop me... and there would be no one to stop me from being with the one I loved...

"Mission Complete."

* * *

**well, you can guess who it is that heero loves... duo! XD**

**thanks for reading, please review!**

**oh, and progress on 'Trapped' had kinda come to a halt for the timebeing. we have the end planned out kinda, but it's just a matter of sitting down and working on it. so ya. and i have another fic i'm working on (inspiration finally struck!) but that ones goin a bit slow too... its got a full plot tho, so no worries! and there's two other drabbles i got goin too, so eventually those will be finished.**

**ja!**

***rocks out to 'ready to die' by andrew w.k* "you better get ready to die! you better get ready to kill!"**


	9. Car Ride

**short. really flippin short. **

**but, i finally got around to typint this up... how many days has it been? i'm in vacation mode already, so i dont have the slightest clue. all i know is i wrote this on saturday on the drive to the lake. my dad and his girlfriend were holding hands while he drove, and that inspiried this scene. but i think its kinda cute... so there.**

* * *

It was a very long car ride... and a boring one at that.

Duo felt himself beginning to doze off as he stared out the window of the passenger seat.

The plain, hilly scenery that was flying by as they sped down the highway was pretty and all, but it got old very quickly. Duo wasn't really a fan of the huge, open spaces; there was no place to hide if danger struck.

They had been driving for hours, since before sunrise. The sun was now well on its way, making its daily journey across the sky.

"We'll be there in a few hours," said Heero, not taking his eyes off the winding road. "Try to get some sleep; we have a long investigation ahead of us..."

Duo heaved a sigh, "Nah, I'll be fine... I only stayed up till two last night. Do you need me to drive so you can sleep?"

"I'm alright," said Heero.

"'Kay," nodded Duo. He took a moment to turn and look at his lover.

Heero glanced at Duo for a moment, then reached over to put his hand on the other's lap.

Duo grinned, putting his hand over Heero's and holding it tightly.

Duo always did love long car rides with Heero...

Owari

* * *

**told you.**

**and that drabble i've been tellin you guys about is done... i'll prolly post it tomorrow tho, once i'm not proofreading and all that. **

***big, important voice* so, until out next encounter!**


	10. Scared You

**wow, im posting alot today.**

**well, i wrote this last week when **Zoey04** spent the night and we pulled an allnighter. **

* * *

Duo and Heero sat on the sofa in the living room of the safe house, watching a movie. The Deathscythe pilot was leaning on the other, and Heero had his arm wrapped over his lover's shoulder.

After a while, Heero paused the movie, "Hang on a sec, love, I'll be right back."

"Sure thing," nodded Duo with a smile as Heero rose and left the room.

Not hesitating a single moment, Duo quickly got up and hid behind the sofa, crouching down low to the ground.

Not much later, he heard Heero return.

The Wing pilot quirked an eyebrow, but figured Duo had just gone to the bathroom. So he sat down and stared blankly at the paused TV screen.

With a huge smirk on his face, Duo waited a few moments before slowly rising and standing over Heero. He could hardly suppress his laughter.

Slowly, careful not to give himself away, Duo put his hands just over Heero's broad shoulders. The Wing pilot had no clue.

Unable to wait any longer, Duo grabbed Heero's shoulders, startling the other so much that he literally jumped up.

Heero whirled around, a mix of shock, anger, and maybe even a small hint of fear on his face.

But Duo just grinned up at Heero, laughing now.

"My god, Duo, you scared me!" gasped Heero once he realized what had happened.

"That _was_ my intention," smirked Duo.

The Deathscythe pilot laughed, walking around the couch to wrap his arms around Heero's waist. He was surprised to see that the other was tense, his body almost trembling. He could feel Heero's heart thudding rapidly in his chest.

"Oh, Heero... I'm sorry... I really scared you, didn't I?" asked Duo, voice downcast. He instantly felt guilty.

Heero held Duo tightly, "Its okay, Duo. I was more worried about if you were safe than the fact that you scared me."

"You sure?" asked Duo, his tone still dejected.

Heero nodded, "Positive. Before I realized it was you, I instantly thought that we were under attack and they already caught you. It's my fault for acting in such a way."

Duo sighed, holding Heero tighter. He didn't speak.

"You have to admit, though, that was pretty funny," said Heero with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Duo laughed, "Yeah, it was."

* * *

**hehe i tried to scare her just like duo did to heero XD it didnt work as well tho XD**

**well, bye!**


	11. UTTERLY RANDOM

**so, i fiannly decided that there were enough of these to post. **

**and i'll have you all know, that each little mini-drabble has at least one quote from '**The Epic List of Random Things to Say**'. and yes, its a real list between me and my friends. this'll only give you a few examples of the sayings, but i think you guys will get an idea XD**

**and as for you, heero (you know who you are), i have nothing to say to you, other than... well... i dont have anything to say to you. XD**

* * *

Utterly Random

"Duo, _what_ are you reading?" asked Heero, a look of confusion and disbelief on his face.

"'The Epic List of Random Things to Say.' I found it online. Says it's a bunch of random quotes that these two girls and their friends heard or said at school and wrote down. It's pretty funny," said Duo, scrolling down the huge list of quotes.

Heero leaned over Duo's shoulder, reading one of the sayings aloud, "'Don't stare at Chainsaw Fred. He's gonna get a complex.' ...Wow, they must go to a really crazy school..."

"You got that right!" laughed Duo. "Oh! Here's a good one: 'From east to west it goes'."

"'Control the log'," read Heero.

Scrolling down a bit more, Duo grinned and pointed at the screen, "Ha! Look, Heero! This one's about me! 'Do you believe in Shinigami?'"

Heero laughed, "'Ironic, isn't it?'"

"'Feasible tape!'"

"'Bubble-butt's epic escape'."

"Like—waitwhat?" said Duo, staring at the screen, laughing.

"I'm not sure I even want to know," replied Heero, laughing as well.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo and Heero sat together on the large sofa in the safe house. Both of them were squished in the very middle at the bend of it, the arms rests on either side pushing them close together.

The other pilots were each spread out on the rest of the couch. Trowa and Quatre were lying together on the long part to the left of Heero and Duo; while Wufei sat cross-legged on the other end, as far as he could from the rest of them.

The TV droned on.

After several moments, however, Duo let his voice be heard, turning to look at Heero. They were almost nose-to-nose. "Why are we so close to each other?"

Heero grinned slightly, "This is why," he said as he closed the space between them, kissing the other deeply.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Heero walked into the office that he and Duo shared. It was only midday, but he looked terribly worn out.

"Hey, you okay 'Ro?" asked Duo, standing up from his desk and walking over to his lover.

"Hai..."

"How did your report go?" Duo questioned after briefly hugging the other.

Heero took a moment to place a kiss on Duo's lips, "Alright. I mostly got the impression that I was talking to a wall and not Une, though..."

"I see," muttered Duo, staring into Heero's hypnotizing cobalt eyes. "What did she say?"

"'Good job, Yuy. Keep up the good work.' Then she dismissed me," said Heero as he made his way over to his desk. He really hadn't been looking forward to giving Une that verbal report, but he was glad it was over now.

"Ahh, so you got a growl out of her. That means it was a good day," said Duo.

They both laughed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was Saturday. Heero and Duo were hanging glow-in-the-dark stars and planets to the ceiling of their bedroom.

"It'll be just like Space," said Duo as he stood on the bed and pressed a plastic star to the ceiling.

Heero, who had started to hang the planets, said, "It most certainly will. If only they had models of the Colonies as well."

Duo laughed. He looked across the room for a moment to watch Heero as he pressed the whitish putty to the ceiling, trying to get the clear string that suspended the tiny planet to stay. It didn't work too well.

The bluish planet dropped only moments after Heero had hung it.

"Well, there goes Uranus," laughed Duo.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo looked a little too serious. And his joke was a little too pointless.

Heero didn't get it. He looked at the other with an utterly confused look on his face. "Raisins? That's your punch line...?" he asked.

Duo burst out laughing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo walked up to Heero, a huge grin plastered to his face.

"What is it, love?" asked the Wing pilot, looking up from his laptop.

Duo sat down on the sofa next to him. The Deathscythe pilot leaned in to kiss Heero's cheek, but instead, licked him.

Heero instantly flinched away, caught completely by surprise, "What the hell?" he asked in shock, wiping the wet off of his face with the back of his hand.

Duo grinned, "Don't mind me, I'm just tasting you." Then he kissed Heero for real.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo pinched shut his nose, "It smells really bad in here, Heero. What the hell did you do?"

"Nothing. I don't smell anything," was Heero's reply.

After a moment, Duo pointed at the closet, "That's it Heero, get your fish out of the closet."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

They were preparing for their latest mission.

_They_ were Heero, Duo and their team. Preventers, that is.

It was somewhat dark, but the bright stadium lights still shone. It was the mission-prep course. Practicing stealth tactics and regaining what skills they may have lost over the three weeks recuperating from the last mission...

The course layout was fairly simple, but it was littered with various traps and such that were never the same on every run-through.

Duo, Heero, and their team stood at the beginning, waiting for the start buzzer to sound.

It finally did.

Duo, already into the excitement of mission mode, called out "Roll on, mighty lancers!" as the course began.

This was too easy.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo didn't feel good. He felt like shit, to be exact.

Heero was worried, as he would be, making sure the other stayed in bed and didn't get any sicker.

But Duo's condition continued to worsen.

"Are you okay? Is there anything you need...?" asked Heero worriedly after waking up from a very short nap; Duo had insisted that he rest and keep himself healthy.

"I'm—" Duo started, but he was cut off by a fit of painful coughing. His head throbbed. "—Okay..."

Heero looked at his lover skeptically before picking up the glass of water on the nightstand. He handed it to Duo. "Drink," he said, almost as an order.

Duo took a few slow, small sips. He felt so nauseas that he feared he might not even be able to keep water down.

He hadn't been able to keep much of anything in his stomach all day; hence the garbage pail at the side of the bed.

Heero took the glass from Duo's pale hand, placing it back on the nightstand, and popped the thermometer in his lover's mouth.

A few minutes passed.

Heero frowned as he read the temperature. "Your fever isn't going down," he said quietly.

"Well—" Duo coughed, "I don't think I'll be able to stomach any more medicine, so..." his voice faded and he began to cough violently again, nearly choking on himself.

Heero put his hand over Duo's once the fit passed. "Don't die," he pleaded quietly, not knowing if the other had heard him.

Duo heard him. "No, I'm just gonna spew..." he managed, before leaning over the edge of the bed and emptying his stomach of all its contents.

God, the stomach flu sucked.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Heero was in a good mood that day.

He seemed to be almost... happy.

That was, until he remembered what day it was.

Two days till Thanksgiving.

Since Duo had insisted on having a real turkey dinner for the both of them, they had figured out who was going to cook what...

But neither of them were very good cooks. So, it had been left up to a battle of rock-paper-scissors to figure out who had to cook the turkey.

Heero lost.

And so, he had to figure out how to cook said bird without incinerating it in the oven.

He logged into his computer, mumbling two words with a bit of annoyance.

"Turkey research..."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"What?" gasped Duo, staring at Quatre in disbelief. "Could you please repeat that...?"

"Relena seems to be interested in convincing Heero to love her... even though it didn't work out last time..." explained the blonde.

"Damn her! Doesn't she get it that Heero is _gay?_ He doesn't like girls like that! And even if he was straight, he'd never fall in love with her!" exclaimed Duo, frustrated at the pink princess's stupidity.

"Exactly. And Heero would never leave you, so I guess you'll just have to wait it out until she gets over him again."

There were several moments of silence before Duo seemed to come to a conclusion. His fist shot up into the air as he exclaimed, "I'm gonna start dating him even harder!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Wing Zero really is a great system once you master it."

"Uh huh..."

"I feel much more in touch with my Gundam now than I did when I still had Wing. I feel more like I'm in control."

"Oh really...?"

"And Wing Zero, without the ZERO system, is an amazing Gundam all by itself. It runs very smoothly and the controls never seize up."

"I see..."

"I definitely prefer Wing Zero over any other mobile suit I've ever piloted," said Heero's monotone.

Duo was bored out of his mind, "And does that make you feel... _superior?"_

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Duo, there's no such thing," said Heero calmly.

"Yes there is!" argued Duo.

"There is not."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

Trowa interrupted, "I'm sorry Duo, but Heero is right."

Quatre and Wufei only nodded.

Duo scowled, "Yes there is! Someday I'll prove it! I'll haunt you guys!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo leaned over Heero's shoulder as he worked on his laptop.

"Do you feel like you're being watched?" asked the Deathscythe pilot.

Heero's response, "I do."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo, finished with what he was doing, put the cap back on the crazy-glue and turned back to his computer.

Duo put his hand on the mouse, moving it back and forth a bit to bring his computer back from the screensaver.

When he tried to pull his hand away from the mouse, however, it stuck to him. "Ah! Sticky!"

Heero laughed, "Well that's what happens when you aren't careful with crazy-glue, Duo."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Duo, stop with the nonsense! Can you please just try to make sense? For five minutes?" pleaded Heero, grabbing Duo by the shoulders.

"Why? It's nonsense. It doesn't make any sense! It's not supposed to!" argued Duo, hands on his hips.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duo gaped at Heero and the others in shock, unable to comprehend what had just been explained to him.

"You're lying," he decided, crossing his arms.

"Iie," Heero shook his head. "Uso janai."

"No, Duo. It's not a lie," said Quatre, inadvertently translating for Heero.

Wufei and Trowa said nothing.

"So after this... _it's over?"_

The others nodded.

"I'm afraid so," replied Quatre.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Heero was explaining his agenda for the day, "Well, I have a job today as bodyguard for Relena—"

"What? Whore?"

"Huh?" asked Heero, looking at Duo in confusion.

"Didn't you know? 'Relena' is synonymous with the word 'whore'," clarified Duo.

"I see," said Heero, unable to hide his smirk.

"Yep. It's pretty obvious as to why..."

"I agree. And on second thought, I think I'll switch jobs with Wufei today. He can handle Relena-the-whore much better than I can, since there's no real emotional attachment," Heero wrapped his arm over Duo's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

Duo grinned, "Ha! Good one Hee-chan!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Duo thinks this is fun," said the Deathscythe pilot, talking in third person.

"Be quiet, Duo," said Heero, not looking up from his laptop.

"But Duo doesn't want to be quiet," he pouted, leaning in front of Heero.

The Wing pilot said nothing, trying to ignore the other.

Duo frowned, then took another gulp of his energy drink... that was his third one in the past fifteen minutes.

"Duo says that Heero should try talking in third person. Duo says that it's very fun," he said in a rush, putting a hand over the other's computer screen.

Heero swatted it away, "No. I don't see the point in playing your immature games."

"But it's _fun!_ Duo thinks that's all that really matters."

"No," said Heero halfheartedly. He was trying to focus on typing his mission report, but Duo was too much of a distraction.

The Deathscythe pilot continued to ramble for several minutes, annoying Heero to his last straw.

"Duo _really _wants Heero to talk in third person with him!"

Heero closed his computer and stood, pointing to the bedrooms of the safe house. "Calm down or Heero will have Wufei go all narcissistic-alcoholic-pressure-point-pressing-over-bearing-sense-of-justice-wearing-weird-pants-not-a-ninja-with-a-huge-sword-and-a-torpedo on you," he said, very loudly.

A moment later, Wufei appeared in the hallway. "_What _did Yuy just say?" he demanded, quite flustered.

Duo was instantly on the floor, laughing so hard he was crying.

Trowa and Quatre, who were hiding in the kitchen and listening to the entire conversation, were laughing so hard as well.

* * *

**so what did you think? laugh so hard you peed your pants? i doubt it. **

**but i will have you know, what heero called wufei in that last one, that's our nickname for him. it started out pretty short, but just got longer and longer and so on... and same with the one about relena-the-whore. there's this jerky dude at school we call that... and it suits him perfectly-the pink princess that he is XD**

**heh, and if there's any quotes you'd like to know where they came from, just ask in a review XD you guys'd prolly get a kick out of how we got some 'a those... XD**

**and as for other stories, i'm working on something REALLY good. even heero (once again, you know who you are) hasnt read it. i had to get my mom to be my critic *cries* but anyways, its somewhat close to done. i kinda got to a boring part to write, so its going kinda slow, but after that, i just have to figure out how to end it... (no, heero, im not telling you anything XD)**

**well, until our next encounter *mwuahahahaaaa***

**-duo out...**


	12. NightTime

**well, here's another drabble for you guys! i wrote this like a few weeks ago... heero (**Zoey04 - yeah, you**) would know when i wrote it... cuz she's heero. but _anyways, _i pretty much inspired myself to write this XD cuz what duo is doing is exactly what i do at night... all night XD**

**umm so yeah, that's it. enjoyyy!**

* * *

Duo sat at his desk in the bedroom he shared with Heero, typing away on his laptop. It was the dead of night, and both windows in the bedroom were open, letting in the cool breeze—he had a blanket draped over his shoulders to ward off the edge of the chill. It was mid summer, yet, even though the days were terribly hot, the nights cooled down to nearly half of the day's high temperature. It was the Gundam pilots' first night in their new safe house.

Duo loved the cold, loved bundling up in warm clothes and blankets, loved how the freezing air felt as it blew over his pale skin. Because with the cold, came winter, and with winter came rain—oh, how he loved the rain.

He shivered, smiling hugely to himself as a breeze blew in through the window over his and Heero's computer desks. He looked up, out at the darkness for a moment, thinking, before turning his gaze back down at his laptop—his fingers sped up their pace on the keyboard, typing more of his story.

To Duo's side, by the other window, Heero shifted in his bed. He slowly woke up, the cold making his body tremble. Eyesight bleary in the dark, he sat up, clutching the thin sheet and holding it against him. He shivered, turning to glare at Duo.

Duo felt the other's burning stare, "Oh sorry Heero, did I wake you?"

Heero ignored the other's words, like always, "Its cold. Why is it cold?" because it was summer, Heero didn't have any other blankets on his bed, just a sheet—he had assumed that it wouldn't get so cold at night.

Duo grinned, "Because, silly, it's nighttime! It's cold, like it's supposed to be."

Heero frowned, not really awake yet, and stood up from his bed. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself as another small gust of wind blew in through the window behind him. He stepped over to the closet, sliding open the door and pulling out another blanket. Closing the closet, Heero went right back to bed. It wasn't until he was curled up under the covers that he mumbled, "Go to bed, Duo... It's too late for you to be up..."

Duo grinned at that, his fingers pausing over his keyboard, "Nah, I don't think so. You just want me to go to bed cuz I always close the windows when I do."

"Aa," muttered Heero incoherently.

"I think I'll leave 'em open tonight. Go back to sleep, Hee-chan," Duo smiled quietly, tapping out a bit of dialogue in his story.

And Heero went back to sleep, and Duo typed the last line of his story, finishing it with an 'Owari'.

Owari

* * *

**so, you like? yeah... please review!**

**ehhh so i dont have anything new coming up in the new future. well maybe, given heero writes her bit of the fic that we're co-writing that we finally got around to working on again... but other than that, i'm working on something REALLY long. i mean, its not even halfway yet and its already 30plus pages. other than that, though, there's really nothing else-though i did get a pretty good drabble idea yesterday... but that'll have to wait. **

**oh, actually there's another drabble i might work on too... cuz i just got Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 today and i could totalllyyy see duo playin as heero and killing everything in sight XD (and yes, heero IS a playable character :D )**

**so yeah, hope to see you guys again soon with me and **Zoey04**'s fic! -you guys are gonna love it :D**

**-Shinigami _OUT_. **


	13. Papercut

**hello! so, this was just inspiried by something that happened to me this morning... it wasn't a papercut that got me, but it still had the same effect... although i'm sure my experience was much worse. uughhhh... but yeah-enjoy the fluff.**

* * *

I was feeling really lightheaded. It wasn't directly from blood loss... More like, just seeing the several small drops of crimson beading at my fingertip.

_'What...?'_ I thought, staring intently at the tiny bit of red life, falling deeper into the haze, _'It was just a papercut...'_

I turned to glare down at the piece of paper that had cut my finger, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach. My entire body felt weak and I thought for sure I was about to pass out... either that, or puke all over my desk. I averted my eyes, absently reaching over to grab a tissue and using it to wipe away the blood from my finger.

"Duo, are you alright?" asked Heero from his desk across the room. He sounded slightly worried.

I looked up at him, forcing a smile, despite how pale I knew my face had become, "Yep. Just a papercut, see?" I waved my finger at him.

But then, the faint smell of blood reached my nose. That, combined with the stomach ache and lightheadedness was definitely too much... I suppressed a groan, letting my head fall, smile faltering. There was a dull thud as my forehead hit the desk. My vision swam as I stared down at the carpet-why was this happening?

Heero was at my side in an instant, "Duo, are you okay?" he took my hand, inspecting the papercut, "You're not, aren't you?"

I kept my head on the cool desk, forcing my uncooperative body to speak, "I'm fine, Heero... You'd think after all that killing we did in the war, and after how many times I've nearly bled to death, a little papercut wouldn't bother me..." I closed my eyes, willing the lightheadedness to pass. I knew it would-it was just a matter of time-but I didn't know how much more I could take without letting my body give in and pass out.

"I guess so," Heero added. But then he stood, "Hang on," only to return a moment later with a bandaid. He wrapped it around my finger, the slight pressure making me feel a bit better. That, as well as having my head down like it was helped the dizziness to pass a bit quicker. I could finally breathe easily again...

Once it had passed nearly completely, I looked up at him, "Thanks Heero... you're a life-saver."

And then he leaned in and kissed my forehead... "You're welcome Duo. Just try to be more careful, okay? I'd be worried if a little papercut like that could bring down the greatest ex-Gundam pilot I know."

Owari.

* * *

**heero can be so sweet when he wants to be XD but yeah... i've never been squeamish about blood until about two weeks ago O,o odd. **

**well, thanks for reading! please review!**

**oh, and the big thing still isnt done yet-it wont be for a while, either.**

**-Shinigami OUT.**


	14. Haro

**well, i've been watching gundam seed lately, and i did a little reading on Lux's haro... and this came to mind :D **

**since they said that haros were kinda the gundam mascot, i figured that Wing needed one... so here ya go. its pretty short, and not written or thought up very well, but tis okay. enjoy!**

* * *

Duo went to the front door—wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, if anyone wants to know—of the G-boys' current safe house. He glanced through the peephole before opening the door. "Can I help you?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at the mailman before him.

"Hello. Are you the current resident?" Duo nodded. "Could I have you sign for this package?" The mailman had a large, square box waiting on the ground by his feet. He handed Duo a small, computerized notepad. Eyeing the box suspiciously, Duo signed on the line that the mailman had pointed out, before handing back the device.

"Thanks..." Duo mumbled as he bent down to pick up the box.

"You're welcome. Have a good day, sir," nodded the mailman as he turned to leave.

"You too," Duo said automatically in response, before he brought the somewhat heavy box inside and kicked the door closed. The box was about one by one feet big, with no return address label, nor a name as to who was to receive the package.

"Who was that?" asked Quatre, walking out from the kitchen.

"Mailman, of all people. We got a package," Duo said, placing the box on the kitchen table and walking over to retrieve a pair of scissors to open said parcel.

Heero looked up from his laptop, gazing intently at the box for several moments. He then put the computer aside and went over to inspect the box up close. Trowa and Wufei joined the other pilots a moment later.

"Anyone wanna guess what it could be?" smirked Duo, his smirk becoming a wide grin when Heero wrapped his arm around his lover's waist, sticking his hand in the other's shorts pocket. Duo turned to kiss Heero on the cheek.

"If this is turns out to be a bet, I'm not guessing," stated Wufei.

"Okay then, Wuffers. Let's open it then!" grinned Duo as he cut the tape on the box and pulled it open.

Quatre and Duo quickly removed the packing foam that was in the box, before the latter pulled out a basketball sized, light green, metal ball.

"What the...?" asked Duo as he inspected the ball. It had a somewhat wavy line running around the middle, along with two red ovals to make eyes and a mouth. There were two circles at the top on either side above the eyes, as well as another two on the bottom side of the ball.

Without warning, the dark eyes lit up and the two circles on the top half flapped open and closed. "Haro! Haro!" the green ball exclaimed, its childish voice slightly metallic. Duo nearly dropped it in shock.

"What the hell?" gasped Duo, staring down at the ball in his hands.

"Ah! I've heard about these!" announced Quatre, taking the greenish ball into his hands to look at it closely. "It's called a Haro... just a little companion robot. They used to be pretty popular back when artificial intelligence capabilities were very limited."

"That's right! That's right!" chirped the little robot. It hopped out of Quatre's hands, landing rather lightly on the carpet and rolling around in a circled around the Sandrock pilot's feet.

"I wonder who sent it?" Trowa said quietly, his hand at his chin.

"I doubt it was any of the doctors... J would've notified about it..." Heero put in, crouching down to stare at the Haro.

"I'm a present! I'm a present!" said the Haro as it rolled over to bump into Duo.

"Well, I think we should keep him. He's kinda cute," smirked Duo as he bent to pick the Haro up, but it rolled away before he could do so.

"What is this injustice?" scoffed Wufei quietly as he turned on his heel to return to what he was doing. The others gradually followed his lead.

After a few minutes, it was just Duo and the little Haro. The pilot of Deathscythe eventually returned to his room as well, the greenish ball rolling behind him like some sort of puppy. "Hey guys! I think he likes me the best!" said Duo loudly, as if the others would be jealous.

"Haro! Haro!" chirped the little AI.

OWARI

**

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**

**whatcha think? please review!**


	15. Pet Peeves

**haha tis been a while since i've written any drabbles! well, i got the idea for this last night, when i was gettin ready to go to bed**, **and i just wrote it now XD this is based off of me, since i'm duo, and of course heero, **Zoey04**! XD **

**and heero, dont hit me for writing this- it had to be done! XD**

* * *

Duo and Heero sat in their bedroom at the safe house, one bored out of his mind, and the other diligently working. Duo was sitting on the edge of the bed, right next to where Heero was hunched over in his computer chair, typing away at some mission report.

Duo yawned, the lack of anything to do making him sleepy. He looked around the room, finding nothing that would hold his interest for more than a few minutes. That was, until he got an idea. A mischievous smirk spread across his features and his eyes glittered knowingly as he stared at the oblivious Heero.

Sitting up straight, and acting completely innocent while he kept a constant eye on the other pilot, Duo began popping his knuckles. He took his time with each finger, making sure every pop was audible to Heero.

Heero's fingers nearly faltered over the keyboard when he heard the sudden, bone-chilling sound. He suppressed a shudder, nearly wincing. Duo saw it, grinning hugely as he continued. Heero, not surprisingly, had a rather strong stomach—he never got grossed out by anything. However, there was one exception: Heero could not stand the sound of joints popping. He hated it. It gave him the chills. Duo had known this, but this was the first time that he was openly indulging in that dislike.

Moving on, Duo took hold of one of his wrists, twisting it and bending it every which way till it popped—he repeated the action with his other wrist. He tilted his neck to the side, popping it loudly—Heero shuddered visibly, but he endured. Heero just tried to tune out the horrible sound, tried to focus on his mission report, but it wasn't working. It was hard enough ignoring Duo in the first place, but this? Mission _failure_.

With a smirk, Duo hooked his ankles together and tensed up, bringing upon a rather satisfying _pop_ from his lower back.

Heero couldn't take much more of this. How much longer would Duo be...? Again, Heero struggled to hide the shudder.

Duo couldn't hold back the grin. He was almost finished, for which Heero would surely be glad, but the 'grand finale' was still yet to come. He couldn't wait to see Heero's reaction. Taking a deep breath, Duo turned and grabbed onto the bed, twisting until he was practically lying down, until he couldn't breathe, he was twisted so tight. A long, loud string of popping sounded from his spine, the built up pressure in the joints instantly releasing. Letting out an audible sigh of breath, Duo turned the other way, twisting even further.

Heero shuddered, again and again, the horrible sound sending chills up and down his spine. He was just about to pick up his computer and knock Duo over the head with it when the other finally stopped. For the moment, at least. Duo stood, reaching up towards the ceiling then bending back, the loud popping continued until he lost his balance and fell back onto the bed. Duo sighed, gasping for breath as he pushed himself back up.

Dizzy from the head rush, Duo grinned lazily at Heero, who was staring at him in absolute shock and disgust. "What?" Duo asked innocently, pretending to not know why Heero was so disgruntled.

"You know what," Heero snapped, closing his computer and rising to his feet. "You're going to kill yourself doing that one of these days," he muttered, turning and walking out of the room.

"Yeah, yeah," Duo grinned, getting up and following Heero, "The same way you're gonna die from being on the computer every waking moment."

Heero just shuddered, unable to get the horrible popping sound out of his head. If Duo ever tried to do that around Heero again, he'd have to knock out the other pilot before it could happen...

Owari!

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**hehe XD short, i know, but tis not like it could've really gone on... much longer... XD**

**well, as far as other stories go, i've got somethin big i'm working on for you guys, and i swear i'll finish it! i think it's about halfway done... so yeah, until then!  
**


	16. Xmas Txting

**hello! here's a little bit of an xmas drabble for you guys! i wasnt gonna do anything, considering i have other fics i'm working on, but i really had to write this. heero (**Zoey04**) knows why. heh XD **

**so anyways, this is pretty short, but i wrote it at 3am this morning. so you're just gonna have to deal XD enjoy!  
**

* * *

Duo groaned, pushing himself up slightly in the bed. In the darkness, he fumbled blindly for his phone, which he had left on the nightstand. Finally, he felt the familiar device in his hand, and quickly hit the two familiar buttons to silence its insistent ring: first the unlock button on the side, then the 'dismiss alarm' on the screen. Squinting at the brightness, Duo smiled faintly. He had woken up early today for a reason. His reason, however, turned his sleepy smile down into a frown.

Heero was leaving today.

And Duo didn't know when he'd be back.

Suppressing a groggy yawn, Duo slid open his phone, revealing the qwerty keyboard, and opened up a new text message. His fingers were slow and clumsy as he forced his half asleep mind to work the tiny keys.

To: Heero** Good morning Heero... hope everything's good with you. What time do you leave? You never said...**

Duo yawned again, hitting Send before closing and locking his phone. He closed his eyes, still too sleepy to stay awake. It had only been about three hours since Duo had gone to bed.

Sleep claimed him for about two minutes, before Duo was suddenly jolted back into half-aware consciousness. His phone was vibrating in his hand, where it rested on the pillow beside his head. Quickly, Duo opened his phone to read the message.

From: Heero**Hello Duo. Everything is fine. Still on the bus to get to the airport. My flight isn't till eight. And, btw, what are you doing up so early? Very unlike you O.o**

Duo grinned, quickly pressing Reply, eager to write back to Heero. His sleepiness was forgotten for a moment as he typed out the message, and his scatterbrained mind seemed to find focus.

To: Heero **That's good. Glad you're okay. And mkay. Will you txt me again before you get on and when you land? And duh, silly, I had to talk to you before you left! :3**

Again, Duo dozed off while waiting for Heero's reply. But, just as last time, his phone woke him and he smiled.

From: Heero **Okay. And what is :3 ? **

To: Heero** It's a smiley face. Turn your head - that way. **

From: Heero **Oh. :3 Well knowing you, you went to bed only an hour or two ago, so I will let you get back to sleep. I will text you at eight. **

To: Heero **Actually, three hours ago. But ya. Byebye Heero. Ttyl... *snore***

And Duo was asleep again in moments, still clutching his phone. At exactly eight o'clock, Duo was jolted awake again by his phone. It was light out now, almost two hours later, but that didn't really matter as he hurriedly fumbled with his cell phone.

From: Heero **About to board plane. Will text you in a few hours.**

To: Heero **Mkay. Be safeeeeee **

From: Heero** Bye**

Still dead tired, Duo was lost to the depths again for a few more hours. He didn't feel rested at all when he awoke, but he knew it was worth it. He'd do this every day that Heero was gone if it meant that they got to talk. With a chuckle, Duo figured that he probably _would_ be doing that everyday, thanks to the distant time zone that Heero was flying off to.

Several hours later, and many more mindless tasks to keep himself busy, found Duo constantly eyeballing his cell phone for new messages. He had put it on ring, but that didn't stop his adamant scrutiny. What if he hadn't heard it go off? What if it hadn't even gone off at all?

Duo's hands were wet from the kitchen sink when his phone began to buzz happily on the countertop. Quickly, as if the message would disappear if he took his time, he washed and dried his hands and opened up the message.

From: Heero **Just landed. My connection is in two hours.**

Connection? For some reason, Duo had just assumed that Heero was taking a direct flight, since that was the way Duo himself usually traveled, when he had to fly in something other than his Gundam.

To: Heero** Well that sucks. But I'm glad you made it safe and sound. **

It was a while before Heero replied.

From: Heero** Yeah**

Duo sighed, staring at the tiny screen of his cell phone. How he wished he could be with Heero right now! Instead of home... alone...

To: Heero **I'm about to put up my little Christmas tree. There's not gonna be much under it, but there'll be somethin waitin for you when you get back**

Duo smiled, eager to see Heero again, even though the other had just left this morning. Duo was a wreck when Heero wasn't around to keep an eye on him. Again, Heero didn't reply for a while.

From: Heero **That's great. I can't wait to come back and see it. :3**

Duo laughed, remembering from the haze of early this morning, how Heero had learned that a colon and a three made a smiley face. Whenever Heero learned something new like that, he used it all the time.

To: Heero **I can't want for you to come back and see it either...**

This time, it was about an hour until Heero replied.

From: Heero** Just boarded connection flight. This plane is very small... **

To: Heero **Ohjeez... Well you'll be fine. **

Heero's reply came right away this time.

From: Heero **Yes. Will text you in about two hours.**

To: Heero **Okay. Bye...**

Duo sighed, putting down his phone and returning his gaze to his computer screen. After a while, though, he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. With a yawn, Duo figured a nap was in order... not to mention, it'd help pass the time.

Duo awoke about two and a half hours after Heero's last text. He quickly grabbed his phone and, upon seeing that there were no new messages, he sent Heero a text.

To: Heero **Hey, Heero! You landed yet?**

A short few moments later, came Heero's reply.

From: Heero** Just landed.**

To: Heero **Yay. Glad you're safe. Make sure you keep an eye out for those OZ bastards, now that you're where you need to be. Kill a whole mess of em for me?**

From: Heero** I will. Oh, and Merry Christmas, Duo. **

Duo grinned, sure that Heero knew he was smiling.

To: Heero** Merry Christmas to you too, Heero. Wish you were here.**

Owari

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**so yeah! was it cute? XD idk if it was 1x2 or just friendship, but its all good. **

**anywho, i have two big fics that i'm working on right now. neither are finished, but i promise that i will get them both done sooner than later. i'm not letting myself start the next big fic (that i've been dieing to write) until both of these are done. i'm contemplating posting the first chapter of one of them tonight, and i probably will, since it IS christmas XD**

**anyways, i'll be back eventually! dont forget about me! XD  
**


	17. Asthma

**so this just like, randomly popped into my head. its loosely based on my own experiences, considering i AM asthmatic, and i've had my fair share of attacks like this (thankfully not recently! *knock on wood*) anyways, enjoy this little PWP while you wait for the next chapter of **Bloodstained Devotion**! **

**oh, and sorry if there's any typos. i didnt proofread this... cuz i wrote it in like 20 minutes XD  
**

* * *

Duo coughed suddenly, his hand automatically covering his mouth. "You okay, babe?" Heero asked, looking up from his paperwork to gaze across the two desks at his lover.

"Yeah... just not back at one-hundred percent yet, I guess," Duo reasoned, trying to ignore the tight feeling in his chest... as well as the plugged feeling in his throat. He had been feeling like that all morning, but it had gotten progressively worse as the day progressed.

"Oh... okay. We can take the rest of the day off if you like," suggested Heero, but Duo just shook his head.

"I'm fine."

"Alright. Tell me if you start feeling worse—you've been sick all week..." murmured Heero, still a little worried. He had managed to convince Une to let him have shorter hours all week, so that he could spend more time caring for Duo at home.

Several minutes passed, and both Preventer agents continued working. Duo tried his hardest to keep from coughing, but the difficulty to breathe was rapidly increasing. He let himself cough, but this time he ended up lapsing into a fit, punctuated by wheezing gasps for air. Heero was up in an instant, rushing to Duo's side and grabbing his lover's shoulders.

When the fit subsided, Duo was gasping for air, his eyes clenched shut in concentration. He sat up as straight as he possibly could, taking deep, ragged breaths. Heero could hear him wheezing. "Duo, Duo are you okay?" Heero asked, voice somewhat panicky.

Duo remained as he was, shaking his head; he opened his eyes to gaze at Heero. His sight was speckled with white dots—they danced across his vision, making him almost dizzy. With an effort, he tried to sit up straighter, some sort of instinct within him believing that it would help him breathe easier—his chest heaved, the other parts of his body doing all they could to help him get enough air. Duo was already starting to feel faint.

Heero, being the over-protective lover that he was, hurriedly picked Duo up into his arms and rushed out into the hallway. He made a beeline for the infirmary.

Duo had his arms wrapped tightly around Heero's neck, rasping and coughing, trying to get air. Sweat was beading at his forehead, and it felt like he was breathing through a soda straw... a soda straw with an upside down funnel inside it—he could exhale without too much trouble, but breathing in seemed to be growing harder by the moment. Duo gave a small whimper, then coughed again; his loud, labored breathing was ragged, as well as laced with high pitched wheezing.

"Hang in there, love," Heero pleaded, glancing down at his lover as he bolted down the halls of Preventers HQ. Heero obviously realized what was wrong with Duo, but he didn't know how or why. This was undoubtedly an asthma attack, yet Duo was not asthmatic. The only possibility seemed to be that the cold he had had settled into his lungs, causing a brief bout of the ailment.

Heero nearly skidded on the linoleum floor as he turned, then hurried through the double doors of the Preventers infirmary. He found an empty cot, and deposited Duo on it, helping his lover lay flat on his back. Heero turned, calling for the doctor running the little medical center, "Sally! I need your help!" His voice sounded desperate, and despite his own predicament, Duo forced himself to reach up and grab his lover's hand.

Duo's throat and mouth were beginning to grow painfully dry from all the gasping he had been doing, and he wasn't quite sure how much longer he'd be able to last with such a small amount of oxygen.

Sally, having been nearby enough to hear Heero's call, hurried into the small, somewhat curtained off area. Upon seeing her, Heero hurriedly blurted, "Duo's having an asthma attack for some reason—I don't know how to treat it...!"

With a curt nod, Sally gave out her instructions, "Just stay here, I'll be right back." With that, she hurried off. When she returned, Sally was carrying a small plastic vial of clear liquid, a plastic mouthpiece, and a long plastic tube. She handed the last of the three objects to Heero. "Plug that into the second nozzle on the wall—the oxygen one—and turn it on all the way," she ordered, and Heero hurriedly did as he had been told. Meanwhile, Sally opened up the bottom past of the mouthpiece, and poured in the clear liquid. She screwed the top back on, and made sure it was secure. "Help Duo sit up," she told Heero, taking the other end of the plastic tube and attaching it to the mouthpiece. Almost instantly, the liquid flowed out as a white mist—she held it to Duo's mouth. "Breathe this, Duo, it'll help."

"What is it, anyway?" Heero asked, holding the mouthpiece for Duo.

"Albuterol Sulfate. And that device is called a nebulizer. It'll allow the medicine to get to his lungs quickly, and ease the effects of the attack," Sally explained.

Duo mentally sighed in relief, forcing himself to take slow, deep breaths of the medicine. He could already feel the tightness in his chest and throat beginning to loosen. Several minutes passed, and Heero gently rubbed Duo's back, still holding the mouthpiece of the nebulizer for him. When the medicine finally ran out, Sally took the mouthpiece and turned off the oxygen flow.

"Better?" Heero asked with apprehension.

Duo's voice was shaky, and his breathing was still a little harsh, "Yeah, definitely."

"Thank god," Heero sighed, taking Duo's hand. It was trembling horribly. "...Duo?" he asked when he noticed it.

Sally spoke up, "That's just a side effect of the Albuterol. The jitteriness will wear off eventually." Both Heero and Duo nodded. "You two should probably go home. And Duo, take it easy for the next few days. Use this," she reached into the pocket of her white coat, pulling out a small red inhaler. She tossed it to Duo, "incase you can't breathe again."

Duo nodded, looking down at the rescue inhaler, his violet eyes reading the label on the canister. With that, Sally left. After a few moments, Duo swung his feet over the side of the bed and tried to stand—his legs were horribly wobbly, both from the medicine, and the previous lack of oxygen. With a small smirk, Heero picked Duo up into his arms, and proceeded to carry him out to their car. "You're staying home again tomorrow. And the next day," he said in a joking tone, yet still meaning it seriously.

"Yeah, yeah," Duo laughed with a small cough.

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**yes? no? please review? i think so :D**

**well, see you guys next time XD  
**


	18. Braiding

**just a little drabble i wrote the other day... i got the idea cuz my own hair was falling out of its braid, and i had to fix it XD **

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"Duo," voiced Heero. A few moments passed, still with no reply. "Duoooo," Heero said, sounding almost like the pilot in question.

"Whoa, Heero, what's up?" that finally got his attention, and the smaller Gundam pilot spun in his chair, looking up at his lover.

Heero just stared blankly at Duo for a moment, before, "Your braid is coming undone." His tone sounded as if he was pointing out something that Duo should already know.

"Oh... really?" Duo looked incredulous, reaching behind him to grab the impossibly long weave of hair. Sure enough, his auburn hair had slipped out of the hair-tie near the bottom, and the rest of it was just generally messy. Duo pulled off the elastic band, his hands deftly unweaving the messy plait. "Thanks for pointing that out, Hee-chan," he said, obviously not even paying attention to his hair and hands.

Heero nodded, but he didn't turn away. He just watched, watched Duo's fingers gracefully, quickly, unravel his hair. Part of him wanted to reach out... wanted to touch that silky, auburn hair.

When Duo turned in his chair a bit, moving his hair to the back so he could get the braid started, Heero did all he could to bite his tongue... he failed. "May I...?" he murmured, almost inaudibly.

"Huh?" asked Duo, turning to look up at Heero. It was impossible to see past the stoic façade Heero always held up, but the Wing pilot's thoughts were clear in his cobalt blue gaze. Duo grinned. "You wanna do it for me?" he asked, knowing Heero too well to doubt that his speculations were wrong. He sort of gestured to his hair with his hands, while still keeping his firm grip on the thick strands.

Heero hesitated, trying to ignore his want. But he eventually gave in. "If you don't mind," he said, voice barely louder than a whisper.

"I'd be honored," Duo giggled, holding out his hair.

Heero's calloused fingers wrapped around the thick, auburn hair and began twisting it into the usual braid—he only knew how to do so because he had watched Duo braid his own hair so many times. It was much too soon when the silky strands thinned and he was at the very end; he carefully twisted the hair tie around the bottom of the braid. Heero brought the small poof of unbound hair to his lips, kissing it briefly, before placing it over Duo's shoulder.

"Thanks," the smaller pilot grinned. He would've said more, but he was cut off by the sudden force of Heero's lips meshing with his own. The kiss was borderline harsh, nearly uninhibited passion—as Heero's kisses always were—and it lasted no more than a breathless moment.

Heero breathed a small sigh against Duo's lips as he pulled away, "I'd gladly do it again." And then he rose to his full height and stepped out of the room, having other matters to attend to.

Duo grinned, watching Heero leave. He loved it when Heero acted impulsively like that...

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**and to those of you reading **Bloodstained Devotion**, i am terribly sorry for not finishing it when i said i would... i guess you could say i've been stuck by writers block... but its more like i just dont feel like working on it at the moment... i'll try to get it done soon tho :/**

**please review!  
**


	19. Scars

**beware! cutter!Duo ahead!**

**so, i've had this idea for quite a while, and i finally had... well... i finally felt it was time to write it, i guess. it's a sequel to one of my older fics, '**End it All**' **_fanfiction. net/s /624 5669/ _**please go read it before this one... its pretty short, and you wont regret it XD **

**anywho, it's loosely based off of 'scars' by papa roach, as you can see down there. enjoy...  
**

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"I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut

My weakness is that I care too much

And my scars remind me that the past is real

I tear my heart open just to feel...

...Compassion's in my nature

Tonight is our last stand..."

'Scars' – Papa Roach

It was late, later than it should've been, and I made a point to be quiet as I opened the front door of our tiny apartment. I didn't want to wake Duo up if he had already gone to sleep... yeah, it was that late. I closed and locked the door behind me, quietly stepping deeper into the house. I really regretted being out so late, but I hadn't really had a choice—I had been on an all day 'mission', guarding Vice Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft during her meetings. She had managed to keep me with her long after my shift had ended, and the nighttime bodyguards took over—and this job was filed as a mission back at Preventers, so its not like I could call it quits whenever I wanted; 'refusing' missions was a long, complicated process, that could possibly end in getting fired. I was completely at Relena's disposal, and if it wasn't for my constant insisting that I had to go back to my own home every now and then, she'd never let me within a mile of Duo ever again. She hated him, and she hated the part of me that loved him—little did she know, though, that hating the part of me that loved Duo, meant she hated every fiber of my being... Relena had never seen the truth behind the statement that no, I did not love her.

Anyways, back into the now, she had managed to keep me with her until it was nearly midnight—I was exhausted. The entire drive home, I couldn't think of anything other than slipping back into Duo's and my apartment, then climbing into bed with him and holding him close as I finally got to rest. I knew this whole guarding Relena thing was hard on him, but I didn't have much of a choice in the matter... And Duo was always insisting that it was okay, that this had to be temporary and it was best to simply sit it out, but deep down I knew it hurt him. I just never knew how much...

As I slowly eased my way towards the bedroom, a bit of a bad feeling descended upon me. I could see the familiar yellow glow of the bathroom light streaming out into the hallway from under the bedroom door—something normally innocent, but somehow giving off a bad vibe on this cold, dark night. I made my way towards the bedroom, listening for any sounds that would indicate any sort of trouble. That was when the faint, horribly faint smell of blood tickled my nose. The barely present heaviness in the air was more than enough to set me off into mission mode. I knew there was trouble. Something had happened, I could tell. Duo was hurt, he was in trouble. I just knew it, now.

Carefully, ever so carefully, I slipped my hand around the doorknob of the bedroom door, twisting it and pressing it open ever so slightly. That one gesture suddenly threw me into earshot of the bathroom, and I could hear everything now. I could hear Duo's voice, whimpering quietly in obvious pain. I could hear his quiet gasps of suppressed sobs.

Visions of memories instantly fluttered past my mind's eye. Memories of the time that, in total desperation, Duo had attempted to take his life. I had saved him, confessed my love to him, and made him swear... made him swear to never try again... but... Duo was... A fear like no other took hold in my chest, coupled with a sort of betrayed disappointment. He had promised not to... I had to stop him. I couldn't let my Duo die.

Slowly, I pushed the door open all the way, stepping into the bedroom. "D-Duo...?" I asked slowly, cautiously, very afraid that if I startled him, he might slip up and do even more damage by accident.

I watched, almost in a trance, as Duo froze where he stood at the bathroom sink. I could see his reflection in the large mirror—his eyes were red from crying, his cheeks wet with tears. His violet eyes were wide as he stared at me through the mirror, watching my silhouetted shadow. I could see the broken remains of a disposable razor on the countertop, see him clutching the sharp metal in his right hand. "Heero...!" the razor dropped from his hand and into the sink, falling with a quiet clatter, among the several thick drops of blood. He clutched at his left wrist, almost as if he was trying to hide what I knew was there.

I took a slow step forward, then another, and another. "Duo... you... why are you... why are you—?" I stammered, at a loss for words. The sight of blood leaking through his fingers brought me right back to that night during the war, when I had walked in on his suicide attempt. My heart was pounding in my ears.

Duo's eyes went downcast then, averting his gaze so that I couldn't see the pain there, "I'm not... I'm not doing it for _that_ reason, Heero..." he paused, his eyes squinting shut. "I... I just can't... I can't feel anymore..."

I was pulling him into my arms then, hugging him to me and beginning to feel tears sting my eyes. Duo let out a sob, clutching my sleeves and burying his face against my chest. I hugged him tightly then, so scared, "I'm sorry Duo, I'm so sorry... this is all my fault, I'm so sorry..." I knew exactly what was wrong, why he was so upset; I had been gone so much lately... Relena was stealing me from Duo, and I hadn't had a clue how much it had been hurting him.

He continued to cry, his voice muffled and nearly incoherent as he tried to speak, "I... I can't take it anymore Heero..." he pulled back slightly, "Y-you're gone all the time, and I'm just so n-numb to it... I'm so sad though, but I can't feel a thing... I miss you so much..." Something within me cracked at those words, but it truly shattered when he pushed himself away from me, leaning against the countertop—he was somewhat dizzy, his cut wrist still bleeding. "I—I can only feel when I do this," he gestured to his wrist, "The pain is all I have now. I can't take it anymore, Heero... It's selfish to want it, but I'm... I'm going to break up with you... if you don't stop waiting on that bitch so often. I-I miss the Heero I used to have, the Heero that saved me..." He looked away, and I saw his legs begin to tremble beneath him. "I just miss _you_."

I wanted to reach out and hug him, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, not after hearing that... He wanted to break up with me...? I wasn't 'me' anymore? Those words scared me to no end. "Duo... I..." I swallowed hard, scared that I might say the wrong thing while trying to get my point across. "I'll do anything you want me to... I'll put my foot down and completely stop these bodyguard missions, even if it gets me fired... please, I'll do anything you want... just please don't leave me..." my voice faded, and I closed my eyes tight, waiting for the hurt that was yet to come. The tears were falling freely now.

I wasn't expecting it when Duo fell into my arms again, and I hugged him like I had when I had sworn to stay by his side until I was sure he was no longer suicidal, all those years ago. "Please... anything to keep you here, anything to stop them, stop her, from taking you away from me. I love you with everything I have, but you're beginning to fade..." Duo's voice was starting to grow weak, strained, and I looked down to see that his wrist was still bleeding. The cut was clearly shallow, and it looked like I had stopped him before really any damage had been done. He had the first aid kit out on the bathroom counter, and still holding him to me, I reached to open it and pull out a wad of gauze. Gently, ever so gently, I lifted Duo's wrist and pressed the bandaging to it. The cut was clean, parallel to several other pale, barely healed marks. They were all perpendicular, however, to the long scar stretching from his wrist to the middle of his forearm—there was an identical mark on his other arm; Duo's failed suicide attempt.

"I'll do whatever it takes, Duo. I love you so much—" My voice cracked with a sob, and I didn't even care about trying to hide it; I cried openly, hugging Duo to me as his small body trembled with sorrow. "I—I'll..." my voice was shaky, and I tried to speak evenly, "I'll do anything and everything you want me to, Duo... whatever it takes to keep you here, by my side..."

Duo didn't reply, simply hugging me tighter. I could feel him tensing against me, no doubt trying to stop his uncontrolled crying. I gently rubbed his back, lovingly, comfortingly, hoping to help ease his tremors.

Sometime later, Duo and I were lying together in our bed, not sleeping, but simply finding comfort in each other's presence. I think Duo finally dozed off after about an hour or so, and I followed sometime later, whispering a small "Aishiteru" before oblivion finally claimed me. I had been a little scared to let myself sleep, but Duo seemed okay now, held comfortingly in my arms, curled up to face me in the bed. I didn't think he'd leave.

. . .

I woke first, sometime late the next morning, to find that Duo had rolled over onto his stomach at some point during the night. He always slept like that, and his expression was peaceful, his breathing slow and even. I gently ran my palm over his soft hair, my fingers carefully brushing his unruly bangs away from his eyes.

His eyes began to flutter open not much later, and I smiled softly at him. "Heero..." he slurred, barely even awake.

I leaned in gently, pressing my lips to his. "I love you, Duo," I murmured, and he dazedly tried to let our lips meet again. Far from lucid, his mouth was slow against my own, and I knew he felt this way because of how much he had bled last night... I suppressed the wince, hating to even think about last night again.

When Duo finally became decently aware, I was finally able to ask him, "Are you feeling okay...? I mean..." My voice faded before I could clearly say what was on my mind, unable to put the words past my mouth.

His violet gaze didn't leave mine, "Yeah... You're here, so I'm okay right now..." His words made my heart clench, because I knew exactly what he meant, what he was telling me. Duo was okay for the time being, but he'd end up sad again if I had to leave once more. I couldn't do that, I couldn't leave his side, not for a moment...

"I won't, leave—promise." I paused for a moment, briefly thinking before making a decision, "We'll take the week off, go somewhere quiet, just the two of us... I'm not gonna let you out of my sight, Duo, not for even a moment."

He pulled himself closer to me, his left arm going up around my neck—I could feel the rough bandages on his wrist brush against my skin. "Thank you, Heero..." he whispered, nuzzling his nose and lips against my shoulder before sighing softly.

My arms constricted around his waist, an involuntary response to the slight hint of melancholy in his voice. I could only hope that, this time, I had succeeded in defeating his darkest sorrows... "I'll do anything for you Duo, anything to keep you happy... anything to keep you alive..."

* * *

**so yeah. it just kinda ends, i know, but the idea flow kinda died after i wrote the first major bit. **

**and as for '**Bloodstained Devotion**', that fic has kinda died... i'll finish it sooner than later, cuz i've got like half a chapter to go, but i'm just really anxious to get it over with. i have one more thing to put an end to after that, then i finally get to start something new and exciting again. **

**until next time, then... oh and please review! i'd really like to know what you guys thought of this little drabble :D  
**


	20. Nightmare

**oh my god... i think this came out kinda good XD i didnt proofread it, but dang... this si based off the nightmare i had last night. well, it basically _is_ the nightmare i had last night, just put in duo pov. god it was so scary... well anywho, enjoy ;D**

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Why I was in this little shed, I don't quite remember. The dim glow from the lamp overhead wasn't quite enough to see, but I managed. The small TV in the wall was on low, reminding me of why I had to hurry. I had to hurry, finish what I was doing here, and get back into the house—the shed was only a dozen or so feet from the back door.

And speaking of the reason _why_ I needed to get the hell back inside, well, I didn't exactly believe they'd be coming. Everyone else was paranoid, but I guess I was just in denial. No, _they_ wouldn't come. Not tonight. Not here. I was safe... but I still had to hurry.

I paused briefly to gaze into the small television screen, squinting in concentration... "Shit!" I cussed under my breath, jamming the power button to turn off the TV, and whacking down the light switch, hence plunging myself into darkness. They _were_ coming! Tonight! Here! I wasn't safe at all!

My heart was thudding rapidly against the inside of my chest, as if trying to kill itself, so that I wouldn't have to face this new fear. I slowly, cautiously, eased open the heavy door of the shed, peeking out, peeking up.

I could hear it now. Hear _them_ now.

The sky was tinted with a burnt, scorched red, blotting out the black and the stars. Almost directly above, as if they were a few houses over, two distinct blotches of dark hovered at least a hundred feet up... well, a hundred feet, given they were the size they appeared to be. I couldn't judge distance well through the dark and the fear and the heaviness in the air.

With a glance back down into the yard, my yard, I could see that the lights in the house were still on, which meant that they could see it... they could see _me._ I knew then that it would be useless to go back inside... if they did what they came here to do, I was as good as dead, either in the house, or this rickety shed.

The two blotches in the sky continued to hover, their fronts angled towards each other, as if they were having a halfhearted conversation. Oh how I hoped that that conversation consisted of leaving this neighborhood alone. I was so scared...

After several long moments of the pounding of my heart blocking out the ominous noise I didn't need my ears to know was present, the slightly larger of the two blotches flew forward, leaving. It disappeared in the direction of the gold and blood red streaked sky. The smaller of the two, the one that I was able to make out the exact shape of, remained where it hovered for yet another few moments. It turned then, in the direction of my house, and slowly, slowly, eased its way through the heavy, night saturated air, until it was directly over my yard. Shit!

The panicky haze in my mind had long since blotted out my logical side, and it was screaming at me. Screaming to get back in the shed. They could see me, just another shadow in the dark, but they could see me, watching them. The shed was much safer. But it wasn't! I would die anyways, so why bother!

The blotch in the sky, the clear shape of a helicopter, god knows how far up, turned so that it too, was facing the orange-crimson sky. Please leave! Leave me alone! I don't want to die!

But it didn't hear me, not a word... I was dead now. Good as dead, now...

I watched, in paralyzed fear, through the somewhat open shed door, as the hatch at the bottom of the helicopter opened. I could see the small yellow lights, a stark contrast against the solid black shadow. It was clear now, yes, this 'helicopter' was much larger than it appeared to be, and it was so much higher up than I had originally thought.

There was another shadow now, blotting out the yellow lights of the hatch... Oh god... O_h god!_ My breathing was rapid, shallow and rapid, on the brink of hyperventilating, and my heart was beating a mile a minute. I had never been this scared. Never in my short life.

My rapid breathing hitched in my throat as I saw the black shadow in the hatch disappear, saw it begin to fall. I was frozen, watching and listening and silently screaming. It was only a very brief moment that I saw the large, unmistakable object, but I had already known what it was.

The moment it landed, crashed to the ground not twenty feet away from my tiny shed, I slammed shut the door of the shed and dove to the floor by the far wall. I curled up, kneeling with my arms up over my head, hands over the back of my neck, like they had taught us to... _Oh god I was going to die!_

"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" I muttered in absolute panic, not even really aware or in control of the stream of three words repeatedly leaving my dry mouth. Tears were streaming from my eyes, and my chest was searing, so terrified of death. I had never been afraid before, afraid of the 'helicopter', afraid that this would happen... afraid of dying. But now that it was here, my all too human impulse to live was ruling me. I—did—not—want—to—die!

I waited for what seemed like hours, but couldn't have been more than milliseconds, for the telltale bang. I waited, as if impatient, for the bomb not two dozen feet away to detonate. I knew it would, I knew Death was finally here to claim me... what a hell of a way to die.

The bomb never detonated...

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**creepy, huh? funny thing is, my dream ended pretty much with that same line O.o so scary... i think they were like nazis or something... idk, but i wouldnt be surprised if they were. god, the nightmares my mind comes up with! XO**

**anywho, my goal today is to at least _attempt_ to finish **Bloodstained Devotion**. no promises, but i'm gonna try. i really wanna start something new, but i cant till that's done, so... yeah. ja ne!  
**


	21. Cat

**so i started this the other day (instead of working on what i'm supposed to be working on XD), and just finished it now. i got inspired for it when i was holding my cat Sady on my lap, like sitting her like a person... heh :D the cat in here is basically my cat, only gw-ized XD **

**enjoy ;D ... oh, and it's POST-WAR btw  
**

* * *

"Babe, where are you?"

"Over here!" I called from where I sat on the couch in the living room.

Heero walked in from the hallway, looking around at the floor, under tables and whatnot, "Duo, we've got to do something about this stray cat; it's going to claw everything to pieces."

"No she won't," I said, "Only kittens do that."

"She?" Heero asked, looking at me with an eyebrow raised. He was behind the couch, so he didn't see what I had in my lap. "How do you know it's a she? And where did that scruffy thing go, anyway?"

"Well it's obvious she's a she. You can tell just by looking at her—she's small and graceful, not big and buff. That's something you, Mr. Dog-person, obviously wouldn't know," I chuckled, still watching Heero as he began searching the kitchen of our small house.

"Obviously." He looked at me over the countertop, "Are you sure you haven't seen where that ball of claws and fur went?"

"I never said I didn't know where she was," I smirked, and as if on cue, the cat began to purr. Heero stood up straight in the kitchen, hearing it too and trying to determine the location of its origin. I watched as he walked around out into the living room, stopping dead when my lap finally came into view.

"Duo," he sighed, almost admonishing.

I smiled, turning my gaze downward to the kitty in my lap, and began to scratch her head lovingly. "Can we keep her?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of the longhaired bundle of tortishell fur. The cat mewed appreciatively as I began scratching behind one of her ears, looking up at me with big green eyes.

"It really does like you," Heero smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. He sighed heavily after a long pause, "I guess she can stay."

"Yes!" I cheered, hugging the cat and nuzzling my nose in her soft fur. I had always wanted a cat. "You hear that, Helen? You get to stay!"

Heero held up a hand, his voice taking on the sort of authority of a parent speaking to his child, "You get to keep the cat, Duo, as long as you take care of it. Use _your_ money to buy food and supplies and..." Heero sighed, giving me a bit of a pitiful look, "Just don't let any cat hair get on my pillow, at least?"

I laughed, "Sure, Heero. If she's a good cat though," I looked down at the kitty still sitting in my lap. She gazed up at me, green eyes narrowed in a rather snarky look. "She'll sleep on the foot of the bed, and keep off the pillows entirely."

The cat stood up on my lap, making a noise somewhere between a purr and a meow, before leaping gracefully to the floor. I watched as she stepped over to Heero, and began rubbing all over his legs. The cat purred loudly in appreciation as my lover bent to scratch between her ears.

I rose to my feet, just as Heero picked the cat up in his arms and cradled her like a baby—it was obvious that he was taking to her already. "I'm gonna run to the store and get cat food and stuff. You and Helen spend some quality bonding time together, okay?" I laughed as the cat got sick of being held and leapt from Heero's arms, leaving several strands of dark fur on his shirt.

"Alright," Heero chuckled, staring down at his shirt.

. . .

That night, after I had set up Helen's food and water, installed an electronic cat door (one which would only allow cats with a certain key-tag through), and managed to get a fancy black collar on her with said key-tag, Heero and I went to bed. Just as I had gotten comfortable, snuggled next to Heero, a now familiar meow resounded from outside the bedroom door.

"Your cat is lonely," Heero murmured, obviously amused.

I poked Heero's bare chest, sitting up, "She's your cat too, and she probably wants to sleep in here with us." Heero sat up as well, watching me as I went to open the door. "What a lucky girl. She gets to share a bed with two guys," I laughed, just as the cat ran in, the bell on her collar jingling. She stared up at me once she was near the foot of the bed, watching as I climbed back under the covers.

"Well anyone would be lucky to get to share a bed with you, Duo," Heero smiled, kissing my nose.

I lay flat on my stomach this time, Heero's arm draped over my shoulders, his other hand holding mine against his chest as he lay on his side. "That makes you the luckiest guy in the world then, 'Ro," I grinned at him.

I closed my eyes then, letting my breathing slow and welcoming the first black wisps of sleep to take me... that was, until a tinkling bell and a sudden weight on the bed brought me back to awareness. I sighed, opening my eyes to see the glimmer of Heero's cobalt gaze as he watched the cat—I could feel her walking around by my feet, then my legs, then my thighs.

"Ow!" I grunted as one tiny paw stepped up onto my bony hip, the concentrated pressure pushing right into the bone. Another paw joined it, and before I knew it, I had an entire cat standing on my backside.

Heero chuckled, "Nice one, cat."

I just groaned in slight amusement as I felt Helen walk further up my back, purring all the way. She stopped, crouching with her paws just by my shoulder, and began kneading the thick blankets there; I could still feel the sharpness of her claws against my skin, however... not to mention the loud purring right by my ear. I turned my head slightly, glancing back, only to see a furry silhouette of a cat, with the eyes glinting in the low light. "I _so_ did not know cats slept on people like this," I chuckled, gazing at Heero now.

"Well I'm sure she couldn't resist the soft blankets, and better yet: blankets that'll stay warm all night," Heero smiled, his eyes half closed. He was tired.

"Yeah... well the three of us should get some sleep, right cat?" I was answered only by the persistent purring of the rather pleasant weight on my backside. "Right..."

So with that, Heero, Helen and I drifted off to sleep. Only, when I woke up the next morning, I couldn't roll over, because the cat still sound asleep on my back had me pinned... this would take some getting used to.

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**you like? please review!**

**and yep, my cat sleeps on me just like that. i love it tho :D so, until next time! *which hopefully wont be too long*  
**


	22. Edge

**so finally! something new! this is one of the many drabbles i've been working on lately, and i realy like how it turned out :D it was kinda inspired by the book i'm reading, called Edge, in the sense that the interrogator gets 'an edge' on their victim to make them a little more willing to talk. you'll see what this guy's 'edge' is :D enjoy!**

* * *

"Tell me everything you know, rebel brat," I spat, glaring down at the mere child bound to my interrogation chair. His head was bent, barely rising from the unconsciousness that the sedative had forced on him.

He remained sagged in the hard metal chair, pretending that I didn't know he was awake. I knew the signs. I knew by the way the tension in his shoulders had tightened briefly, by the way his breath had hitched for a short moment. I may be young, but I knew my way around the profession better than anyone. I knew how to _break_ anyone. Even filthy Gundam pilots.

I backhanded the boy before me, feeling no remorse, despite him clearly being a minor. "I know you're awake, you waste of a human life." I grabbed the mess of auburn bangs shading his eyes, pulling his head up. Internally, I was shocked by the intensity of the hate in the violet eyes that now stared up at me. I jerked his head back further, forcing him to sit up straight. "Tell me what I want to know, and I won't hurt you," I hissed, not meaning a word. I'd hurt him, alright. Info or not, I was still going to make an example out of him, show the other four pilots that they were far from invincible against the ranks of OZ soldiers like myself.

"Fucking liar..." the pilot growled, and by his voice I knew that he was still under the influence of the high strength narcotic we had used to capture him. It was good to know, both because we had gotten the dosage right for once (pilot 01 had been unaffected by any drug put into his system before this point, so we had figured all five pilots were like that; apparently not), but that his weakened alertness probably meant that extracting the desired information would be easier, as well.

"Try me," my voice was equally as harsh as the following crack of my nightstick against his shoulder; he flinched, and I found myself smirking. "I'll stop hurting you as soon as you start talking. Tell me everything about the Gundams." I proceeded to bash his backside with the baton, where his shoulder blades were surely protruding—he was skinny and small, appearing to be a complete contrast to pilot 01. I hoped his level of resistance was an opposite as well.

He made no coherent sounds, only grunting quietly at the pain of each blow I dealt. After several minutes of this, I finally grabbed onto the base of his insanely long braid and yanked him backwards, as far as the chair would allow. The pilot genuinely cried out this time, and I knew I had finally found a weak point. With his eyes squinted shut like they were, he did not see my malicious grin as I realized how useful his long weave of hair really was. I gave another violent tug, preventing any struggles for a moment, and bent to loop the end of the braid around his handcuffs, which were secured to the back of the chair. I tied a knot in his hair, so that he was bound in that obviously uncomfortable position—even the slightest shift, and he'd be pulling on that hair of his.

"Tell me where the Gundams are!" I cursed, grabbing his bangs and pulling him forward, hard. A sobbed cry was no doubt heard throughout the entire corridor.

I was starting to think he might be giving up soon, considering the obvious pain I was causing, but I was wrong. "Fuck... off," the pilot gasped, "I'll never... ever tell you... you fucking bastard..." He was glaring at me with those eyes of his again, and I slapped him in the face, not sure how much of that stare I could take.

I took out my nightstick again, and as the next few minutes went by, I began mentally going over every documented incident involving the Gundam pilots, with either OZ or the Alliance. One of the most prominent times that came to mind was the first capture of any pilot: when 01 had been literally delivered to an Alliance hospital, only for pilot 02 to break in and bust him out. That memory got me thinking—that one time meeting was not the only recorded interaction between pilots 01 and 02. When 02 had last been captured, it was 01 to come and rescue him. Gundam pilots or not, there was something between those two, and I suddenly had an idea.

I gave the pilot before me a particularly hard hit to the stomach, and I heard a quiet whimper as he involuntarily tried to curl into himself, only succeeding in pulling harder on his hair. "Tell me where the Gundams are!" I shouted, nearly in his ear, making a point to sound angry, like I knew I was losing.

"No!" came his choked reply.

I kicked him, the steel toe of my boot colliding with his shin—his ankles were secured to the legs of the chair. "If you don't talk, pilot 01 dies a slow, painful death!" I yelled, and he froze—only for a second, but still. A reaction. A reaction that said it all. I continued: "If you don't tell me everything I need to know, your buddy 01 is gonna get the shit beat out of him so hard," I called on my mental information records, "that that emotionless exterior of his is gonna shatter and he's gonna beg for death!" I grabbed the violet eyed pilot's chin, jerking his head to look up at me, despite how much I could not stand his eyes. "He's gonna cry for mercy, and I'm gonna tell him this is _your_ fault! _You_ betrayed him by giving him such a horrible fate!" I paused briefly, just enough to let my words sink in, "But if you talk, tell me everything, he goes free, you got that? Pilot 01's life will be spared if you talk." I knew by the slowly diminishing light in those hateful eyes, that my plan had worked. Of course, 01 was no where even near this facility—my bluff was successful. "So tell me, 02, tell me about the Gundams... tell me who you work for!"

"B-but..." the pilot before me suddenly seemed so small, so young, "I don't know anything... P-please... just let He– ...01 go. I don't know the man who—" Tears were streaming from his eyes.

I tried to ignore the sudden transformation of evil terrorist into frightened child as I continued to simply do my job. "Don't lie to me, you piece of shit." I picked up a walkie-talkie from my desk and waved it at him, "You see this? I say two words into this, and your little friend begins the ending of his life. Two words. And my partner starts the torture. So you'd better get talking, or 01 is a dead man." Of course, the radio was malfunctioning anyway—it was currently on an unused frequency.

Gently, as if the walkie-talkie itself really did hold the power to end a human life, I set it down on the table, before taking my handgun and using it to deliver a solid blow to pilot 02's face. The pale skin of his cheek cut with the impact of metal, and his lip split as well; he whimpered quietly, in a manner that I knew meant that he had given up hope. "Please... I-I don't know... the man behind all the Gundams... I can't help you... please, just let 01 go..."

"Don't give me that bullshit!" my nightstick collided solidly with his exposed chest, leaving him gasping painfully; I had undoubtedly just bruised several of his ribs. "Don't fucking lie to me, you filthy piece of colony trash! I know you know about the Gundams! Tell me, dammit!" I picked up the walkie-talkie again, waving it at him with my finger over the talk button, just to show how close I was to following through with the next step of my bluff.

I wasn't expecting the sudden, angry cry from pilot 02, "Fuck you! I don't know shit about who I 'work for'!" he paused for a moment, gasping in obvious pain, "Just let 01 go! Please!"

I knew I had gotten to him with the mention of 01, I just hadn't been expecting this type of reaction. I had thought for sure he would tell me what he knew to save his fellow pilot... apparently not.

Still wielding my handgun, I took a moment to screw on the silencer—I didn't want anyone to come in here after hearing a gunshot; screaming was fine, just not a gunshot. Gun in one hand, walkie-talkie in the other, I stepped directly in front of the Gundam pilot. Still sitting with his hair binding him back, he glared at me in hate. I raised my gun, aiming directly between his eyes. "Are you going to talk? I'm sick of your fucking around. You've got one last chance to make the right choice," I kept my voice low, menacing, careful to sound in control as a counter to his scream of an outburst.

"You won't kill me," he said, matching my tone.

Not even skipping a beat, I lowered my gun, but not all the way. "Fuck no I won't. But you just sealed 01's fate," and I shot 02 in the leg, knowing my bullet hit bone.

His cry of pain drowned out even my thoughts for a moment, before subsiding to guilty whimpers—it was obvious he felt responsible for the future 'death' of 01. I raised the walkie-talkie to my mouth, hitting the talk button. "Kill him," I said into the dead channel. Not waiting for a 'reply', I placed it and my gun on the table, cupping one of my hands and clapping it over 02's ear—not hard enough to do permanent damage, but his whole head would be ringing for a while. As in, he wouldn't be able to listen for a reply on the walkie-talkie, and he'd never know that I had been bluffing about 01 this entire time. Blood began to drip from his ear and he sagged in the metal chair, as if to say he had simply given up.

"Are you going to talk now?" I asked, coldly.

He didn't move an inch from the way he was sitting, nor did he open his eyes, "Why should I? You've killed 01, now kill me too."

I waited a few moments, drawing it out. "It's not too late, you know," I said, yet still showing no sympathy, "My partner is to kill him slowly. There is still time. Talk, and 01's torture will stop. You know what will become of him if you remain silent." I was starting to get a little anxious inside—would he ever give in and simply tell me what I wanted to know?

I noticed then that 02 had begun to cry, honest tears streaming from his eyes. His body shuddered with a sob, and I was suddenly hit by the fact that terrorist or not, this boy was still human. He was still a _child_. After a moment of him simply crying, his broken, shaky voice spoke up, "P-please... I'll tell you everything... I promise... just make them stop hurting him—" He shuddered with a sob and I frowned, forcing myself to continue my job.

"Start talking, you little fuck. I'll tell them to stop as soon as I know you're not lyin—" At that exact moment, in mid word, I was cut off by the metal door suddenly sliding open.

In the threshold, stood a young man that I could recognize anywhere: Gundam pilot 01. And he looked angry, downright pis—

. . .

(Heero POV)

I held my gun at the ready as I hurried down the corridor. Duo had been captured, and according to my data, this was one of the more dangerous OZ facilities. I had managed to get my hands on the blueprints of the place, so I had an idea of where Duo's holding cell would be. I just had to make sure I didn't get caught in the process of saving him.

My heavy sneakers were silent—both because of the rubber soles and my intensive training—as I ran down the maze of halls. Corridor after corridor, they all looked the same. It was up to my sense of direction and intuition to find where they were keeping Duo. Eventually, after having to incapacitate several guards, I came upon a hall that was lit noticeably brighter than the others. I knew I had been taking the correct path to the holding cells, but this couldn't be it, could it? Was Duo here...?

Something told me that he was.

Slower now, I crept down the corridor, my senses on even higher alert. I mouthed Duo's name, as if he could hear me silently asking if he was here. And, as if in response, I heard a pained cry echo from a room not much further down. I could recognize that voice anywhere... Duo!

Steps still soundless, I ran down to the end of the corridor, stopping at the door that Duo's cry had come from. I pressed my ear up against the cold metal, listening to what was going on inside. I was sure that this wasn't the cell block... so, interrogation rooms, maybe? That had to be it.

"Are you going to talk now?" a cold voice I didn't recognize spoke from inside the room, and I felt the tension in my already tight shoulders increase.

After a moment, a much quieter, despondent, and guilt stricken voice spoke up. I could tell that Duo was in great pain, just by the sound of his tone, "Why should I? You've killed 01, now kill me too."

01? Killed?

...Me?

Did Duo think I was dead?

I wanted to burst into that room right then, but something held me back. I... I wanted to know more. I was frozen with anger. I couldn't move. How dare they make Duo believe I was dead!

"It's not too late, you know. My partner is to kill him slowly. There is still time. Talk, and 01's torture will stop. You know what will become of him if you remain silent," the other man—the interrogator, I assumed—continued. Every passing moment increased my desire, my _need_, to kill this man by tenfold.

Duo's reply broke my heart, made me want to hug him to me and promise that I was okay. "P-please... I'll tell you everything... I promise... just make them stop hurting him—" I didn't even care that he had betrayed his fellow pilots by promising to tell them what they wanted—he wanted to save me so desperately, that betrayal didn't really matter...

Something in my head clicked just then, and I realized... all those nights I had spent since the beginning of the war, lying awake in bed, contemplating if Duo liked me the way I liked him... resolving that he didn't, and steeling myself to that harsh realization... I had been wrong. Just by his tone, his obvious tears as he begged for them to save me... I knew he felt something special for me. I needed to save him now, and I needed to let him know that I loved him, too.

"Start talking, you little fuck. I'll tell them to stop as soon as I know you're not lyin—" the interrogator's last words didn't really register as I slammed my fist into the old-school keypad lock on the door. It swished open, retracting into the wall, and I raised my gun. The OZ man turned, and there was a look of both surprise and anger on his face as he realized who I was. With a shot from my silenced gun, he fell to the floor before he had even finished turning to face me.

"Heero!" Duo's cry was filled with relief, as well as bewilderment—he hadn't believed me to be alive... or at least, in any position to stage a rescue. "You're okay! You escaped!"

I ran over to him, unbinding him from that chair being my first priority at the moment. Duo was in terrible shape, bleeding and bruised. His cheek and lip were split, staining the entire side of his face with red, covering the black and blue. Blood was slowly draining from his ear. I frowned when I saw that the reason he was leaning back in the chair so oddly, was because his braid had been tied to his handcuffs. I had told him keeping his hair that long was dangerous! Gently, I undid the knot, hoping he'd move to get more comfortable. He didn't, and brief worry overcame me—it probably hurt too much for him to move and resituate himself within his bindings. I shoved that thought away though, focusing on the task of undoing his cuffs with the lock pick I had hidden in my shoe. Duo's arms fell limply to his sides as they slipped out of the unlocked cuffs.

"Duo?" I asked, hesitantly, as I moved to undo the bindings around his ankles.

His breathing was a little harsh, pained, "I'm just glad you got out of there... they didn't hurt you, did they...?" he asked, quietly. I looked up as soon as his legs were free, and there was something missing in his violet stare... his eyes were dull.

I still wasn't quite sure what kind of bluff that OZ bastard had pulled, "Duo, I'm fine. Nobody hurt me. What did that asshole tell you they did to me?"

Duo blinked, and in the few moments that it took him to realize that whatever they told him was wrong, I turned my attention to the bullet wound in his leg. It wasn't bad, bleeding-wise, but by the location of the entry and exit wounds, I knew that, in the very least, his tibia and possibly fibula had been grazed—he wouldn't be walking anywhere any time soon. I tore off his entire pant leg, slipping it off and lifting his hurt leg up onto my knee. Just as he opened his mouth to finally speak, I began poking around and feeling for what bones needed to be reset—it didn't seem to be that kind of break; maybe the bullet had really done nothing more than graze the bones? Nonetheless, Duo cried out, throwing his head back over the chair.

I apologized silently, proceeding to wrap the thick fabric of his pants around the wound. It served as both a bandage, and a makeshift splint, in case the bones were truly broken. Duo finally found his voice as I lifted him up into my arms—I had never realized how light and tiny he was until I was actually carrying him.

"They... he told me they had captured you too... and that they'd torture you to death... if I didn't tell them everything... I tried not to give in... I swear... but then he... then he shot me and... and told whoever was on the other end of the... walkie-talkie to kill you... I didn't want you to die!" One of Duo's arms had gone up around my neck, holding me and crying quietly. That OZ bastard had really gotten to him.

"It's okay, Duo, I'm okay. It was just a bluff to get you to talk..." I promised him, cuddling him close to my chest as I ran down the halls. It wouldn't take long to escape. "Thank you though," I said without thinking, "for caring about me so much."

He looked up from where his face had been pressed into my shoulder, and there was realization in his eyes, as if he was given the sudden idea that I liked him back, yet he couldn't believe it. He didn't say anything though, eventually curling back into me as I ran down the halls of the OZ facility. We had yet to be discovered, and we'd be out of here soon.

There was an unavoidable group of soldiers on patrol in one of the last hallways. I hid behind the wall of the adjoining hallway, Duo still clutched in my arms—I was hoping he had lost consciousness by now, but I wasn't sure. And by the sound of the approaching footsteps, I knew I didn't have the time to check. I gently set him down on the floor, so that he was leaning against the wall—he didn't look up. I drew my gun. Carefully, I peeked around the corner, shooting at the guards and taking down the first. There were four left now.

They saw me then, and readied their weapons. I managed to incapacitate another before they started shooting at me. I dodged back, hiding behind the corner as their bullets bit into the plaster, spraying bits of wall in every direction. They cut into the skin of my arm, leaving small red marks, but I didn't feel it. I peeked out again, shooting them down. Another fell, and they continued to advance.

Three left, and a bullet cut into the ground beside my foot. Had it hit me? I didn't take a chance to look and find out. I pulled back again, glancing down at Duo as I reloaded my handgun. As far as I could tell, he wasn't completely lucid, maybe even passed out. I shot at them again, and they did the same. A flash of red, and my arm jerked back—I forced it forward again, taking down another guard. Then another. One left, and I had to reload my gun. I didn't have time.

I kept a small explosive in the heel of my shoe for emergencies—it wasn't much, but it was enough to take down one guard if necessary. I bent for just an instant, removing the small explosive and tossing it at the last soldier. I ducked away behind what was left of the wall, lifting Duo into my arms and hurrying past the dead soldiers. More were surely on the way, but the exit was near.

I managed to avoid another panicking group of guards, finding my way out and jamming the keypad. For once, the distance between the building and border of the facility was relatively short, and I had to pause only to tear a hole in the chain link fence. It was easy, considering I had bent steel bars with my bare hands in the past.

My motorcycle wasn't far from the facility, and it didn't need to be, since I had hidden it so well. I started it, holding Duo to my chest and speeding off in the direction of our safe house.

. . .

It wasn't until I had properly tended to Duo's wounds, that I noticed that I had indeed gotten hurt in that firefight. There was a graze on my ankle, and an even deeper one in my upper arm. Both had stopped bleeding by now, but I bandaged them anyway. It had turned out that Duo had indeed lost consciousness, so I tucked him into my bed and waited. I'd tell him how I felt about him when he awoke.

"Nnnn..." Duo's moan of slowly returning consciousness brought me out of the half doze I had faded into, waiting for him to wake. I sat up straight, gazing at him. His violet eyes blinked several times, before finally focusing on me. I had my hand over his, and I squeezed it lightly as he murmured my name, "Heero..."

I placed my free hand gently on his upper arm, careful to avoid the bruising on his shoulder, but still wanting to keep the constant contact. "How do you feel?" I asked him, standard line. I absently began checking over his wounds, making sure the cuts in his wrists from the cuffs hadn't bled through the bandages, and so on.

Duo didn't reply to my question and, somewhat worried after several moments of silence, I looked up. I was slightly surprised to meet his gaze, to find that he had been watching me, and I hadn't felt it—his eyes were still dull, like they had been before. After a few seconds of our eyes simply locked, Duo spoke. "Thank you, Heero..." his voice was heavy, as if he had been awoken from several hours of a deep, yet restless sleep. His hand squeezed mine.

"You're welcome, Duo," I told him, returning the small smile that had begun to curl at the corners of his lips. I held Duo's hand with both of mine now.

"Heero, I..." Duo started, but his voice faded. He tried again, "When they made me believe that you... that you were going to die... it really made me realize... Heero, I... I really—"

But I cut Duo off before he could finish speaking. By the blush creeping over his cheeks—it was really only visible on the side that wasn't black and blue—I knew what he was about to say. I rose to my feet, in one fluid motion, and pressed my lips to his. I kissed him deeply, and Duo didn't hesitate to return it. His free hand came up around my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair. I held one hand to his cheek, avoiding the bruising and cuts, letting our lips continue to mesh passionately.

When I eventually pulled back, Duo and I were both gasping for breath. "I love you, Duo. I realize that now. I love you..."

Duo pushed himself up, pulling me down in the process. He winced, and when I opened my mouth to tell him to lie back down again, he kissed me again, full on. This time, he broke away, "I love you too, Heero. So much."

* * *

**so... you like? please review! :O**

**and uhm... as far as other drabbles go, one is close to done, the other is not... the latter of which is prolly gonna end up as a oneshot on its own, or posted here in multiple parts. summer is like almost here, so expect some new stuff soon!**


	23. Fever

**so here's another drabble for you guys. i really liked writing this one... it pleased the mother-hen side of me XD i was contemplating posting it in two parts, but eh. too lazy...**

**enjoy the fluff.**

* * *

Duo awoke with a quiet moan, letting his eyes roll open and his vision to slowly focus. His mind was dazed, to say the least, and it took him a few moments to understand the concept that he was _awake_ and that he even _existed_ in the first place. That time had gone by while the blackness had held him captive. He could feel his cheeks burning, a notorious heat resonating from within him.

"You're awake," a quiet voice murmured from somewhere to his left. Duo let his head loll to the side, with some effort, in order to see who was there; he instantly regretted it—white hot pain flashed across his vision, seeming to split his skull in two. He squinted shut his eyes, whimpering, but otherwise too weak to express his agony any further.

The headache had finally subsided to bearable when Duo felt a relatively cool hand press gently against his sweat-soaked forehead. "Duo..." the body attached to that hand sighed, and when his sight finally cleared, Heero's worried face filled Duo's vision. Heero's palm slipped from Duo's forehead to his cheek—he frowned; Duo's fever was still obviously very high. He could only hope that it would break on its own, since they had no medicine and it was absolutely out of the question for Heero to leave Duo alone to go get some. But he might have to...

Duo wanted to reach up and place his hand on Heero's, but he was simply too weak. He was burning up, sweating profusely, yet feeling as if he was frozen as well. Duo was exhausted, and his sense of _reality_ was more distorted than ever. He felt closer to death than any time before... and to think it would be sickness to bring the great Shinigami down.

Heero sighed, watching Duo's already glassy eyes begin to lose focus. His heart throbbed when Duo gave a whimpering, shuddering cough, his breathing remaining ragged for many moments. Turning slightly to the nightstand, Heero picked up the electronic thermometer. Duo was already lying with his head to the side, which made things a little easier. Heero gently placed the sensor part of the device in Duo's ear, and pressed the button, feeling Duo shudder slightly as the thermometer made its signature hollow, metallic click. He frowned as he gazed at the little screen a moment later, the readout of Duo's temperature far past the level where he would've started to worry. 104.3°F blinked unemotionally in bold black digits. Oh how he hoped it wouldn't get much higher...

Heero gently ran his fingers over Duo's forehead and cheek, urging the other to open his eyes. Clouded violet orbs opened, and Heero felt a small, worried smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Gently, he slipped a hand under Duo's shoulders, helping him sit up slightly. Taking the cup from the nightstand, Heero held it to Duo's lips. "Drink this. You need to stay hydrated," he advised. Duo, without disagreement or any other sort of reaction, took a few slow sips of the cool water. Heero let him lie back down afterwards, brushing Duo's damp bangs away from his eyes. Duo drifted back into a feverish doze not much later.

Relaxing back into his chair beside the bed, Heero picked up his book from the nightstand. He held it closed in his lap, though, watching Duo carefully for several more minutes. Heero really didn't want to have to resort to forcing Duo into a cold bath as means to get his fever down, but if it got much higher, he'd have to. The human body couldn't take much more than 106 degrees.

Heero wasn't aware that he had nodded off in his chair until he awoke to the harsh sound of Duo coughing. A short lived sense of panic overcame him, but it faded when he put his hand on Duo's shoulder, and the small fit began to subside. Duo's eyes slipped open after that, staring up blankly—his eyebrows raised slightly, as if he was seeing something strange above them both. Duo's body went tense, and a low whimper that sounded vaguely like Heero's name slipped from his dry lips.

Heero placed his hand over where Duo's was, underneath the thick layer of blankets. "Hee...ro..." Duo managed this time, half coherent. His tone was fearful as he stared up at the ceiling, and Heero knew then what was going on. Duo was hallucinating—the fever was ruling him now. "I... it's..." Duo rasped, "S-Shinigami..."

Heero frowned then, wishing he could see Duo's vision of the God of Death himself, so that he could protect Duo from the frightening sight even more. "It's okay Duo, I'm here. You're okay. It's just the fever. You're okay," Heero promised, squeezing Duo's hand through the blankets.

Duo didn't seem to hear him though, lost in his fearful 'reality'. "N-no... I don't... don't want to... die..." he gasped, his eyes squinting shut in fear.

"Duo, listen to me, I'm here! It's okay!" Heero insisted, leaning over the bed and picking Duo up into his arms, hugging him tightly. Duo was shivering, either from fever or fear, and Heero could feel that his heart was racing. Duo finally began to relax after a handful of moments, the image of Shinigami fading from before him. Heero let him lie back down on the bed, asking hesitantly, "Duo...?"

Duo's eyes were closed now, but he made a small sound, somewhere between a whimper and a grunt, to acknowledge that he had heard Heero.

"How do you feel?" his voice was somewhat strained, as if he was somewhat afraid of what Duo's answer would be.

"Hot..." he murmured, shifting slightly, but clearly too weak to do much more. He gave a pitiful moan, and turned his head, as if trying to get away from the thick blankets. The fever, as well of the rest of the sickness, had completely sapped his strength. Duo could hardly move...

Heero placed his palm on Duo's forehead, "I know love, I know... but you have to let the fever run its course for as long as possible," he sighed. After a few moments, Heero asked, "Would you like some more water?"

Duo's breathing was ragged, "Mm..." His already closed eyes squinted shut, his expression contorting in obvious pain—the headache had resurfaced. Heero frowned, before picking up the plastic cup of water again and letting Duo drink some.

After that, Heero rose to his feet from the chair. His body was horribly stiff from sitting for so long. He hated to leave Duo alone, even for a moment, but he needed to go put more water in Duo's cup. Heero leaned down, placing a gentle kiss on Duo's cheek—the smooth skin was so hot against his lips. "I'll be right back," he whispered, before rising to his full height.

In the bathroom, Heero took a clean washrag and wet it in the sink with cool water, ringing it out and folding it up. Not two minutes later, back at Duo's bedside, he placed the rag over Duo's forehead. He hoped that it would help with the fever, or in the very least make Duo a little more comfortable. He took the other's temperature again... 104.5°F. It had gone up a fifth of a degree...

Heero let out a worried sigh, leaning down to kiss Duo lightly on the lips, tasting the dry, chapped skin. When Heero slowly began to pull away, Duo turned his head, trying to keep the feeling of Heero's kiss that much longer. Distantly, he wished for the strength to lift his arm up around Heero and hold him, hold him and keep him there, so close... Duo whimpered when Heero's lips finally left his own.

A regretful expression graced Heero's features then, hating to see Duo's dazed need. He laid down on the edge of the bed beside Duo, sharing the pillow and draping his arm over Duo's chest, placing his hand on his lover's much too warm cheek. "I love you, Duo..." Heero sighed, stroking Duo's cheek with his thumb, "Sleep now. Just rest..."

Duo made a quiet sound of acknowledgement, almost a mix of both a sigh and a whimper. He gazed at Heero for another moment, before closing his eyes and letting himself surrender to the fever, the restless sleep taking him. Dreams plagued his mind seemingly instantly, but they were never unbearable with Heero holding him like he was.

On the other side, in the waking world, Heero gently caressed Duo's hot cheek, hoping desperately that his closeness would allow Duo some much needed rest. Again, he dozed off, having been awake and tending to Duo for the past handful of days—not to mention the stressful mission he had barely even managed to return from, just before that. His body didn't hesitate to take every chance it got to rest.

Heero awoke on his own volition sometime later, inhaling slowly and sleepily. He opened his eyes, finding Duo exactly as he had been earlier, still snoozing lightly. Heero briefly wondered if Duo's fever had broken yet, but part of him was too comfortable to ease off the bed and retrieve the thermometer. He pressed his fingertips to Duo's forehead and cheek, finding them both still very warm. He frowned, forcing himself to ease up from the soft bed. Heero was somewhat drowsy, and he blinked heavily, slowly, before rising to his feet. He needed—or maybe just wanted—more sleep, but taking care of Duo was his priority right now.

Heero let out a sigh of breath, gently holding the thermometer to Duo's ear once again. 104.5°F blinked on the screen once again. Heero sighed in half relief—Duo's fever hadn't gone up any higher... but on the same token, it still had yet to break. Heero let his fingers brush against Duo's hot cheek, before pulling away the now warm washrag from his forehead—Heero rose to his feet and went to go cool it with more water.

Back at Duo's bedside, Heero bent to press his lips lightly against his lover's. Duo let out a weak cough when Heero pulled away, moaning quietly, as if in pain, even though he was still asleep. Heero looked grim, hating the feeling of uselessness that only grew as Duo's weary body went tense and trembling in an obvious nightmare. Gently, Heero took Duo's near unraveled braid into his hands, pulling off the hair tie at the end and beginning to unwind the messy plait. Taking his time, Heero braided the soft auburn strands as neatly as possible, letting his mind drift back to a few days ago, when he had returned from his last mission... right before Duo had succumbed to the illness he was still battling.

Flashback... Three days earlier...

Heero stifled a yawn, blinking away the slight haze just as the safe house lights came into view from between the trees. Pulling his heavy coat tighter against himself to fight the cold, Heero jogged slowly all the way up to the front porch. He was weary, bruised and rather frazzled, but he was still the 'Perfect Soldier', after all, and a little more exertion in his state wouldn't kill him. At most, it'd only take him about a day and a half to recover, and then another full day to repair his Gundam—he wasn't in bad shape, really.

Heero let himself in through the front door of the safe house, expecting to find Duo sitting on the couch watching TV, waiting for his lover to return. That was not the case, however, and Heero briefly wondered if Duo had been called out on another mission.

That suspicion was disproved, nonetheless, as Heero stepped into the dimly lit bedroom, finding the braided pilot curled up in bed, nearly completely lost under the mass of blankets. Why were the lights on, if Duo was sleeping? Heero frowned, stepping closer to the bed with a slight limp, his eyebrow quirking when he took note of the thermometer and cold medicine on the nightstand by the bed, as well as a near empty glass of water.

"Duo...?" Heero asked, suddenly very worried. He knelt down by the bed, placing his hand on his lover's shoulder.

Hazy, dull violet eyes fluttered open after a moment, blinked once, twice before the smaller pilot smiled both sheepishly and happily. "You're back," he murmured, voice cracking and scratching as if there was sandpaper in his throat.

"Are you okay?" Heero placed his hand to Duo's forehead and cheek, finding them both to be a bit warm, but seemingly only from sleep. The fever was only just beginning.

Duo yawned before replying, "I wouldn't say 'okay', but I'm alright... I just got a cold or somethin' while you were gone. Must'a been from m'last mission..." Duo's words slurred slightly, but it seemed that he was just tired. He squinted shut his eyes, turning his head down into the pillow and coughing. A few moments later, once Duo had looked back up at his lover, "You okay though? Ya look tired..."

"I'm fine, just a little banged up," Heero said, rising to his feet. He needed to clean and bandage the few open wounds that he had. Stepping over towards the bathroom, Heero heard the rustle of blankets from the bed—he turned to see Duo slowly rising, getting up to follow his lover. "It's okay Duo, I can take care of it myself. You should rest."

Duo smirked, but Heero didn't miss the stifled wince as Duo swayed on his feet. The head rush was obvious as Duo struggled to keep his balance—Heero hurriedly stepped back towards the bed, catching his lover before he got the chance to fall. "Eh," Duo steadied himself against Heero, before standing up straight, "You always take care of me when I get hurt, so I at least gotta put a few bandaids on you, ya know?" Duo chuckled. "Anyways, I gotta pee."

Not half an hour later, Heero was putting away the first aid kit. They had used the last of the pain killers not all that long ago, and they had yet to refill their supply, so it was a good thing Heero had a high pain tolerance. Duo slowly cleaned up the bathroom counter, throwing all the bandaid wrappers into the wastebasket. He looked rather dazed, and his movements were sluggish and clumsy—Heero noticed.

"Duo, are you... are you okay?" he asked, putting his hand on his lover's shoulder. Even with the layer of fabric that was Duo's shirt, Heero could feel how hot Duo's skin was. With his free hand, Heero pressed his fingers to Duo's cheek and forehead—he was burning up.

"I... I'm really cold..." he murmured, but Heero was already lifting him into his arms, carrying him towards their bed. Feeling cold meant that Duo's fever was on the rise... this was not good. Heero's worry only escalated when Duo went limp in his arms, losing consciousness.

"Duo?" Heero asked in a sudden wave of panic. He hurriedly placed his lover on the bed, picking up the thermometer and sticking it in Duo's ear. After a moment, 102.7°F blinked emotionlessly on the tiny screen. Duo was clearly a lot sicker than either of them had thought.

Frowning, Heero tucked Duo into the bed, covering him completely with the heavy blankets. He pulled a chair over to the bedside, picking up the bottle of cold medicine on the nightstand. He read the label—it did nothing to ease fevers. Damn... and with no pain killers, they really had no medicinal way of treating Duo's fever. Heero could only hope that it didn't get more than a degree or so higher.

End Flashback...

Heero sat quietly at Duo's bedside, his hand at his lover's cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. He was relieved to realize that even the small, simple contact helped ease Duo's nightmares, helped him sleep a little easier.

Duo awoke about an hour or so later, but by then, Heero had fallen asleep again. Duo gazed down, sight bleary, to see his lover leaning forward in his chair, his upper half resting on the bed. Heero's eyes were closed and he had a peaceful expression on his weary face, as his head rested on his forearms and hands. Duo was dazed, unable to gain any sense of coherence. He just watched Heero for a while, slowly drifting into an only vaguely conscious, feverish haze. He was so hot, buried under all those blankets, and he was having trouble breathing... Duo coughed weakly, painfully.

When Heero woke up again, it was to the sound of Duo coughing, whimpering softly. He was rasping for breath. Heero was up in an instant, taking Duo's cup and holding it to his lover's lips. Duo drank slowly, his sips interrupted by wheezing coughs. The water helped, though, and Duo's breath came a little easier as Heero picked up the thermometer again. The reading shocked him...

105.1°F

Shit! Duo's temperature had gone up over half a degree! No wonder he was having trouble breathing. Heero knew that waiting any longer would allow Duo's fever to reach even more dangerous levels... He had to get that fever down, _now_.

Grimacing, Heero returned to the bathroom, turning on the water for the tub. He let it fill up with cold water, thankful that the small bathtub filled up quickly. As soon as there was enough water, Heero turned off the faucet and returned to Duo's bedside. He began pulling back the heavy, sweat-soaked blankets.

"Duo, Duo look at me," Heero said, pleading, shaking his lover's shoulders.

"Nn..." Duo was barely even lucid.

"Your fever's too high, Duo. I need to get you to cool down. I'm going to put you in the bathtub, alright?" Heero tried to talk slow, so that Duo could at least attempt to make sense of the words, "The tub's full of cold water. It's going to be really cold, but it'll make you feel better." Quickly, with almost clumsy hands, Heero stripped away Duo's clothes, leaving them there on the bed. Heero picked Duo up into his arms then, kissing his lover's forehead. Duo was completely limp, and—at least to Heero—noticeably lighter; he hadn't eaten since before the fever had struck.

Gently, Heero eased Duo into the cold bathwater. The sudden freezing rush brought Duo to his senses in an instant, and he cried out, his voice high pitched and strained with distress. He instinctively began to thrash out against Heero, trying to get out of the sudden cold. But Heero was stronger than Duo, even more so right now, and he held Duo in the cold water, knowing he'd soon go numb to the seemingly icy water.

Even as Duo began to grow unfeeling of the water, he was shivering terribly, his core temperature being forced to lower. When Duo finally stopped struggling, he simply clung to Heero, who was leaning over him and the bathtub. "I'm sorry, Duo," Heero murmured, hating that he had had to resort to such drastic means of cooling Duo's fever.

He kept Duo in the water for some time, until he was sure that his lover's fever had broken. At some point during that time, Heero began draining some of the water in the bath, and replacing it with fresh, colder water—Duo's shivering began anew. Not long after that, however, Heero reached up onto the counter, retrieving the other of the two thermometers that they had. This one slipped neatly into Duo's mouth, under his tongue, and gave its reading a few moments later. It probably wasn't completely accurate, considering the relativity to the other thermometer, but it was more than enough to tell Heero what he needed to know. A high pitched beeping alerted him to the fact that the thermometer had taken its reading:

102.9°F

Heero sighed heavily in absolute relief, sitting back on his heels. The cold bath had worked, and Duo's fever was finally lowering. He held Duo's damp, limp hand in his, gazing at his lover as he sat in the chilly water, his consciousness lost somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. Heero decided that it wouldn't be harmful to keep Duo in the water for a little while longer, just to be sure that his temperature really was going down.

Duo wasn't shivering anymore when Heero finally drained the bathtub, and wrapped Duo up in a big blue towel. Heero was sure that his lover was asleep as he held him close in his arms, sitting back on the bathroom floor, so that he could dry his ill partner. And yet, Duo was awake—or, he was now, at least.

"Nnn... Heero... wha-wh't happn'd?" Duo slurred, his eyes struggling to flutter open. "Whysit... so c-cold?"

Heero paused for a moment, placing his hand on his lover's cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. "Your fever was too high, so I had to put you in the bathtub full of cold water, so your core temperature would drop," Heero explained slowly, before placing a gentle kiss on Duo's lips.

Duo just sort of hummed a reply, and Heero rose to his feet, stepping out of the bathroom, and back into their shared bedroom. He placed Duo gently on the bed, before retrieving a fresh set of pajamas from the dresser—it helped that Duo was somewhat conscious as Heero dressed him in the warm flannels. Deeming his lover's own end of the bed to be too damp with sweat, Heero shifted everything over to his own side, and tucked Duo in—he used only a sheet this time, though, knowing all too well that too many blankets would cause another spike in Duo's fever.

Duo sighed contently, comfortable, but also finally lucid enough to feel Heero's presence beside him. The fever was lowering, in earnest now, and though Duo was still horribly weak, he could move enough now. He reached up with a trembling hand, pressing his fingers and palm to his lover's cheek. "Than'you... 'Ro..." he murmured, Heero leaning down to brush his lips against the other's.

"You're welcome, Duo. I'll always take care of you," was Heero's reply, after the short kiss had been broken. There was just enough space between Duo and the edge of the bed for Heero to lie down, and he did just that, draping a protective arm over his lover, urging him to sleep. "Get some rest. It'll help with the fever. I'll keep an eye on you," Heero kissed Duo's forehead.

Duo murmured a quiet acknowledgement, letting his eyes slide closed—it was all too easy for him to slip back into the haze. Heero, despite his own fatigue, stayed true to his word and remained awake, watching Duo as he slept. His partner would be better soon, and then... and then Heero could rest.

By the time Duo finally awoke, several hours later, Heero had moved so that he was sitting in the chair beside the bed again, holding one of Duo's hands in his own as he read his book. Duo felt better now, it seemed, and returning the novel to the nightstand, Heero leaned in to place a kiss on his lover's forehead.

"How do you feel?" Heero asked, pulling away.

Duo smiled lazily, still sleepy, "Better... Can't rem'ber much, but I think I feel bett'r since then..." Duo's words weren't slurring nearly as much as they had been earlier, which was a good thing. Duo turned his head to the side after a moment, coughing hoarsely for several moments. For a second, Heero wondered it whatever illness Duo was suffering from was simply running its course and moving on, or if it was beginning to morph into something much worse. With hope for the former, Heero pushed that thought away and slipped a hand under Duo's shoulders, helping him sit up.

"Here," Heero brought the plastic cup to Duo's lips. The other sipped gratefully, feeling the water ease his searing throat. After, Heero let Duo lie flat again, taking the thermometer from the nightstand and slipping it into his lover's ear. It clicked, and after looking at the readout for himself, he let Duo see.

101.6°F

Exactly three degrees higher than normal.

If anything, Heero was glad to see such a number flashing back at him; it was the lowest he had seen on the thermometer's tiny screen during the past handful of days.

"Damn..." Duo murmured as Heero turned off the little device and returned it to the nightstand. "How high did't get...?"

'Damn' didn't even cut it. "One oh five point one degrees," Heero recited, almost mechanically—it was the only way he could cope with remembering the feelings of panic and desperation that would now forever accompany that number, or anything similar. He managed to shake himself out of the stupor, "That's when I had to put you in the cold bath. I didn't want to risk it getting any higher..." Heero's voice began to trail off, but he stopped talking on his own before it could. Heero placed his hand on the top of Duo's head, smoothing it over the other's hair.

"Oh..." Duo sighed, imagining how hard it must've been on Heero to take care of him in such a state. He was truly grateful—the fever would've killed him if it wasn't for his doting lover. "Thankyou so much, 'Ro... I owe'ya big time..."

"Hn," Heero hummed, leaning in to press a kiss to Duo's lips. "I love you, Duo," Heero murmured against the other's mouth, "I'll do anything for you."

Duo reached up, slinging his arm around Heero's neck, like he had wanted to so badly, earlier. He pulled his lover closer, yet keeping the kiss closed-mouth only, knowing that truly letting their mouths mesh would make it easier for Heero to catch whatever had made Duo so sick.

Several moments after they had broken away, Heero spoke up, breaking the silence that had descended. "Once your fever drops a degree or so more, I'll move you to the sofa in the other room, so I can change the sheets here, okay? And if you're up for it, we can take a shower..."

Duo nodded, "Okay." Despite the still lingering fever, he really liked the idea of a hot shower—he felt gross from sweating so much, and the steamy air would just be generally good for his airways. Heero's hand was holding Duo's, and the later squeezed it gently.

. . .

With Duo successfully carried to the loveseat sofa, tucked in and comfortable, Heero stripped the blankets from their bed and took them out to the garage where the washer and dryer were. Duo had turned on the TV while Heero was outside, and was watching some rerun of an old television series. Heero came and sat on the edge of the sofa, by Duo's feet. He turned to gaze at his lover.

"You feel up for anything to eat? I can heat up some soup or something..." Heero suggested, hoping Duo's appetite had returned—the other was skinny enough as it was, and a few days without eating surely hurt.

"Yeah, think so..." Duo replied, a hand automatically going over his stomach. His fever had dropped to just barely over one hundred degrees. He was still weary and a tad incoherent, but without the fever weighing him down, Duo's symptoms seemed hardly anything as terrible as they had been, only hours before.

So Heero heated up some soup for the both of them—he hadn't eaten in a while, either—and sat with Duo on the sofa as they ate. He kept a constant, watchful eye on Duo's slightly trembling hands, making sure he wouldn't spill the mug of hot liquid on himself.

They watched TV for about an hour or so more, Duo silently glad that he had remained lucid for so long. It seemed like the past few days were nothing but a dream to him, while the bitter reality still ate away at Heero's ragged nerves. He was nearing the limit of his exhaustion, and he hoped with all he had that Duo was for sure on the mend, and would be okay if Heero was to simply black out for several hours.

Sometime later, after Duo's fever had dropped below the one hundred mark, Heero gently helped him rise from the sofa. Duo staggered on his feet, but Heero kept him upright. "You okay?" Heero asked.

"Yeah, just a head rush," Duo reassured, as Heero led him to the bathroom. Duo leaned against the countertop as Heero gently undid the long plait of Duo's hair, before brushing it out. He then went to turn on the shower as Duo undressed.

Duo sighed contently as he stepped into the hot stream of water, Heero joining him a moment later. He let the water soak into his long, wavy hair, wetting it thoroughly, before stepping to the side so Heero could do the same. Their shower was slow and relaxing, easing some of Duo's ache and Heero's tension.

Sometime later, once they were dry and the bed was made, Heero helped Duo ease under the dryer-warmed covers. He slipped in on his side of the mattress, cuddling Duo close as the exhaustion and stress ate away at his last shreds of resistance. Heero fell asleep holding Duo, only to wake several hours later, to find that Duo's fever had completely dissipated, and whatever illness he had, had nearly passed. Finally, it was over...

* * *

**so i was kinda iffy about the end, but it'll do. i enjoyed writing it...**

**uhhhmmm i dont really have anything else that'll actually be finished any time soon. there's another drabble, but i have no idea what to do with it. so that means i need to start working on some other major fics...**


	24. Blood Drive

**i liiiiivvvveeeee! ha! i survived the summer, yet this is the first bit of writing i've finished in months! :O i had serious writer's block for a few months, but i'm finally getting myself back together! i missed this XD**

**so this little drabble is just a spew from yesterday-my school had a blood drive and i donated-of course-and it inspired this little snippet. enjoy the fluff!**

* * *

"Ohhhhh..." Duo groaned, putting his head down on the cool desk. His normally rosy cheeks were still lacking their usual tinge.

"Duo?" Heero asked, looking up from his paperwork. "You okay, babe?" His desk was directly across from that of his lover, with the two fronts pressed up to make one large table.

The usually spunky young man didn't raise his head. "Not right now..." Heero knew that shaky, almost breaking tone of voice—Duo honestly did not feel well.

Heero got up, stepping around the desks to Duo's side; he put his hand on the other's shoulder, before kneeling down beside him. With his gentle touch, he urged Duo to ease himself down into his lap; the pale brunette complied without complaint. Duo's Preventers jacket was slung over the back of his swivel chair, so Heero reached up and grabbed it, folding it somewhat in one hand and setting it down on the floor. Duo made no attempt to protest as Heero eased his lover down, so that he was lying on the floor, the jacket a makeshift pillow. Pulling open the bottom-most drawer of the desk, Heero lifted Duo's feet and rested them up on it, keeping them elevated. "Better?" he asked, gazing down at his companion.

Duo's eyes were a little glazed and unfocused, "Yeah..." His hands rested comfortably over his stomach, with the dress shirt sleeve of his left arm rolled up all the way to his bicep. At the bend in Duo's arm was a neat wrapping of stretchy black bandaging—it matched quite nicely with Heero's right arm. There had been a blood drive at the Preventers HQ earlier that day, and the two ex pilots had signed up for the latest appointments—they had only been back in their office for about a quarter of an hour. Heero felt fine—he had had sufficient training to withstand even a life threatening amount of blood loss—but Duo, on the other hand, clearly hadn't been. It would seem odd—taking into account how much blood the smaller ex pilot had lost throughout the years thanks to injury—that he was having such a hard time after only giving a pint, but it made sense that the pain and weakness left by nasty wounds would disguise the discomfort of blood loss alone. And Duo really wasn't taking it well.

Heero sat with Duo on the floor, stroking his lover's hair gently, comfortable with the silence. After a few minutes, Heero reached up onto the desk to retrieve Duo's water bottle. Again, Duo didn't protest against the offer, and drank several mouthfuls of the semi cool water. Heero wanted so badly to hold his lover in his lap, but it was best for him to stay lying like he was. Duo's eyes slipped closed a bit later, and Heero brushed away his lover's unruly bangs. "Try to keep your eyes open, love. I don't want you to pass out," Heero murmured, letting his lips curl up in a soft smile as the pair of violet orbs gazed at him once more.

After a while, Duo seemed to be feeling a bit better; lying down really helped. "It's so weird... you'd think a damned Gundam pilot wouldn't have any problems giving blood," Duo moaned, but his mirth was clear.

"Well," Heero couldn't hold back a smirk, "I guess it doesn't get any easier with experience—losing large amounts of blood, that is."

Duo turned his head, grinning madly up at the other, "Are you mocking me, Yuy?"

"Perhaps," Heero laughed.

Still grinning, Duo slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows. He immediately felt Heero's strong hands supporting him as he tried to rise once again. "You okay?" Heero asked as Duo brought himself into a full sitting position.

Duo waited a few moments before replying, "Yeah. I think so, this time."

"Good," Heero was truly relieved. He handed Duo the water bottle.

"Thanks," Duo murmured out of habit, unscrewing the cap and taking a long drink.

After a while, Heero hoisted Duo to his feet and helped him slip on his coat. The chocolate-haired pilot felt relatively fine, but he knew his partner was tired and weak—Une would understand if they took the rest of the day off.

Duo kept his arm on Heero's as they made their way down the long hall to the elevator. He was really looking forward to simply going home and sleeping this off.

"So am I right to assume that this hasn't changed your mind about donating blood again?" Heero asked with a smirk, gazing at Duo.

"Nope!" Duo chuckled. "It's totally worth it, and you know it."

"Aa," Heero nodded, still smirking. He knew he was not much of a match against Duo's stubbornness. "Am I also right to assume we'll be doing this again next time the blood drive rolls around?"

"You got it!" Duo laughed.

* * *

**it's not much, but it's good to be back. please review!**

**i'm working on a really long fic now. i have about half of it done, and intend to start working on it regularly again. i want to be able to post it before too long. it's been almost a year since **Bloodstained Devotion**! god, that really scares me how fast this year has gone. **

**anywho, please dont write me off as dead just yet!  
**


	25. Mini Drabbles

**I'm not dead, i swear! this is proof! XD so, I wrote these over summer, but never posted them. i figured it'd be good to post them all now, since i havent posted anything in a while. i'm doing NaNoWriMo this year, so i'm only working on an original fic right now-which means the huge fanfic i've been working on for the past several months was once again put on hold T-T i wanna get that one finished as soon as i can, cuz i havent posted anything big in waaay too long. i'm so sorry guys XP**

**anyway, please enjoy these little tiny mini drabbles  
**

* * *

Ten Genres, 1x2

**Angst**

"S-suicide attempt...?" stammered Heero, standing stock still in the front lobby of the hospital. The doctor nodded solemnly.

"I saw him myself, and his wounds are clearly self inflicted, so yes... I am terribly sorry, sir," she informed him grimly.

Heero was still in shock, "I-is he okay? Can I see him?" Heero went silent for a moment, "Did… did he leave a note…?" since when had Duo been contemplating suicide? He had seemed so happy…

"Not with him, no…" she paused, waiting a breath before answering Heero's other question, "He's in surgery right now, being treated for severe blood loss and shock…" her voice faded, and it was clear that she had a grim sense of the despondency of the situation. When she spoke again, her voice held the steady authority of a doctor, "He should be released soon, so you'll be able to see him then."

Heero nodded, somewhat dazed and in denial. He followed the doctor to the elevator, where she briefly gave him directions to where Duo would soon be. A clenching pain made itself known in Heero's stomach, and his legs nearly buckled beneath him at the sudden reality of Duo trying to kill himself… _Why__ would__ he __do__ such __a __thing?_

**AU**

"But Heero—"

"Just drop it. I'll be fine."

Duo frowned, knowing Heero was much too stubborn to ever change his mind. But then, it was that same stubbornness that had allowed him to survive this long, despite the frigid surroundings—despite having nothing but his snowy, angelic wings to keep him warm during the long, icy nights.

Heero took a step forward, closer to the mouth of the cave. His dark green, summer tunic rustled against his tanned skin as a howling gust of wind whipped past the alcove, some of the frozen wisps dispersing into the cavern. Duo grimaced as the cold blasted him, even reaching to where he crouched near the back wall of the cave. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last night.

Duo wrapped his arms around himself as he rose to his full height, too cold to stretch out his black wings like they ached to. He stepped towards Heero, "Please, if you insist we keep moving, let me at least tend to your wound..." It was too cold, even for Duo, who grew up on the outskirts of this land of black ice. Not waiting for an answer, Duo slipped the glove off of his right hand, exposing an intricate web of both pale and gruesome scars all along the back of his hand, then up along his arm and wrist. He reached out to place his palm on the blackened, frozen over gash in Heero's arm. The other grimaced as Duo's palm made contact with the wound.

A purplish, black aura sprung up around the nasty cut, and a hazy, dark mist began to swirl around Heero's arm, faster and faster until it disappeared altogether. Duo staggered back as soon as the mist was gone, gasping for breath and clutching his scarred right hand against his chest. He could feel the marks growing longer, burning as they krept further up his arm. Heero gazed at Duo for a moment, worried, before his eyes were drawn down to the now healed bruise-colored mark on his arm. "Thank you..." he breathed, looking up in time to see Duo falling forward, his eyes beginning to flutter closed as his knees buckled beneath him. "Duo!" Heero rushed forward, catching the other.

Duo managed a small whimper as he lay in Heero's arms. His dark violet eyes were hardly visible as his vision faded—but it was enough for Heero to see the purple depths clouded to a deep, muddled black. "P-poison... Your wound was... poisoned..." Duo managed before he was out.

**Crack**

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really."

"I don't believe you, Duo. Show me."

"Egh… Don't say I didn't warn you."

"…Ohhhh…"

"_What_ did I tell you?"

"And it was there when you woke up?"

"Yeah... I have no clue how it got there though..."

"And you can't feel it?"

"No."

**Crossover**

"Damn that program!" hissed Heero as he fishtailed to a stop next to where Duo had landed after his lightcycle was derezzed beneath him. Duo staggered to his feet, a little dazed but otherwise fine. "You okay, love?" asked Heero hurriedly, as Duo bent to pick up his baton.

"I'm fine," Duo growled, "But those guys won't be for long!" With a running leap, Duo disconnected his baton and letting his own energy run into it. The lightcycle rezzed back into existence, doing a wheelie as Duo sped across the grid. Heero followed, his lightcycle emitting a bright, pale blue light ribbon.

Duo grimaced, signaling to Heero as he turned on his light ribbon; he pushed his lightcycle faster, speeding towards the program that had just tried to derezz him.

…Not a fraction of a millicycle later, the opponent program shattered into a million pixels.

**First Time**

Duo stretched his arms up over his head, feeling the muscles tense then relax as he continued to walk down the busy hall of the school's main building. Duo always did love infiltrating schools as part of a mission—and he loved it even more when it was with Heero; Duo did have a near paralyzing crush on the 'Perfect Soldier', after all. Not to mention, they always ended up as roommates, even if the school itself didn't provide housing—it was awesome. Heero had sent Duo a text message not many minutes ago, not long before lunch got out, telling the smaller pilot to meet him up in the school's Tower Room for a meeting of sorts. Duo figured that Heero had simply come up with an important change to the mission strategy—something that couldn't wait to be disclosed.

Hefting his bag up on his shoulder, Duo made sure no one was following him, then ascended the flight of stairs. He entered the Tower Room, closing the door behind him, and dropped his bag to the floor. He found Heero leaning on the far wall, arms crossed, gazing out the long wall of windows. His cobalt eyes were hazy with some sort of emotion that Duo couldn't decipher. Heero looked up.

"What's up?" Duo asked, grinning despite the growing knot in his stomach that only served to twist in discomfort when Heero made an expression to match the one reflected in his eyes. Was... was that nervousness? Was Heero _nervous_? What was there to be nervous about?

Without a word, Heero took several stiff steps towards Duo, not stopping until he literally had Duo pinned to the wall. Nervous now too, and also a little bit scared, Duo glanced at Heero's hands pressed flat against the wall just above where his shoulders were leaning against it. Duo's heart was thudding a mile a minute now, nearly throwing itself against the bars of its bony cage; his breath hitched in his throat at the sudden proximity. His usually loud, sure voice was reduced to a tiny, stuttering squeak, "H-Heero...?" He could feel Heero's warmth radiating from only inches away, smell the intoxicating, musky scent that was undeniably _Heero_. Duo's violet eyes were locked with the perfect cobalt; they had never been this close before...

And then, those azure eyes closed in a gesture that Heero had seen so many other teens his age do time and time again. Heero leaned forward slightly, holding his breath; his lips met with Duo's a moment later, pausing as if unsure, before continuing on with the kiss. Heero's own heart fluttered as Duo began returning the kiss, as their lips meshed and tongues explored and hands slipped lower to hold the other's nervous, trembling body. Heero was the first to break away, staggering back a step.

"F-Forgive me," he murmured, shaking his head and averting his eyes as if he had done a terrible wrong. "My emotions got the best of me, I couldn't stop myself."

It took Duo eternally too long to find his voice; he pressed his fingers lightly to his lips, trying to decipher if what he had just experienced was _real_ or not. Heero had just... kissed him! It was a dream—the dream he had nearly every night—come true! But Duo's silence lasted nearly long enough to solidify Heero's thoughts of resentment—the slightly taller pilot hung his head in shame.

"N-no, don't take it that way!" Duo managed to squeak, before taking a deep breath and fully regaining his voice... though not necessarily the coherence to voice his thoughts in their entirety. "I... You..." Duo shook his head, "I didn't know you felt that way about me." Heero looked up at that. "I didn't know you felt... the same way I feel about you..."

Heero smiled then, actually, genuinely _smiled_. Duo's heart began to flutter again. "I love you, Duo," Heero stated, stepping back so that he was incredibly close to Duo again. He placed his warm, calloused hand on Duo's cool cheek.

"I love you too, Heero," Duo grinned, just as Heero leaned in to kiss him again.

**Fluff**

Heero hugged Duo to him. The smaller Preventer agent smelled faintly of the light soap he used—it was a fresh, clean, and almost sweet scent, that perfectly complemented the warm, rich, loving smell that was Duo himself.

**Humor**

"Haha, Heero you are such a dork!" Duo smirked.

Heero was puzzled, "What did I do?" he could feel himself starting to blush already, though.

"What do you mean 'what did you do'? Lookit!" Duo was cracking up, the sight of Heero's pinking cheeks only making it worse. He gestured towards Heero's crotch.

Heero looked down, "And?"

"You honestly don't get it, do you?" Duo gasped out, still laughing.

Heero said nothing.

Duo took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, "Your gun. The way you shoved it in those tight spandex shorts of yours, it looks like you've got a hard-on." Duo paused, laughing for a short moment, "And since we're alone here, I'm gonna say that that's a hard-on for me!"

Heero stared down at the not-so-innocent place to carry his gun, "Oh..." If his cheeks could've gotten any redder, they would have. Duo let out a keening laugh when Heero proceeded to reach into his pants, and pull out the gun in question; he looked it over carefully, as if the gun itself had some perverted aspect to it.

"Hey, hey Heero, next time we go out in public together, you should shove your gun in your shorts there again. Make people think you really are horny," Duo laughed.

Heero was mortified, "No."

**Hurt/Comfort**

Shivers down my spine. A sense of confusion. Tears stream from my eyes and a shudder shakes me to the core. "H-Heero…" His arms wrap around me protectively.

"It's okay, Duo. You're gonna be okay," he whispers, murmurs, sighs. "I love you, remember?"

"Yeah…" I breathe shakily. Something painful clutches in my stomach, and a sob tears through me. I clutch Heero's shirt. He rubs my back, gently, and after a while the trembling begins to subside.

**Smut**

"Ahhh… Ahh—Heero!" Duo cried his lover's name, back arching slightly as a brief, yet intense wave of ecstasy rocketed up his spine. He couldn't stop his hips from instinctively rocking forward, couldn't think straight as the pleasure only increased. "HEERO!"

**UST**

Heero discretely bit at his lip, stepping over to Duo's desk. He placed his hand on the other's shoulder, forcing himself to refrain from simply grabbing Duo and making out with him then and there. Duo looked up, smiling at his partner, "What's up, Heero? Ya need something?"

"Duo…" Heero forced out, barely managing to mask the strain of his voice with a low growl. Heero leaned in then, unable to keep his eyes off of Duo's perfect lips. He could feel the soft warmth of Duo's breath mingling with his own when he suddenly realized what he was doing. Heero growled in earnest this time, pulling away and hurrying out of the room.

What the hell did he almost just do? What did he almost just do to Duo? Heero cursed himself mentally, hurrying down the halls and out of the Preventers building.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It wasn't marked on the calendar, and it wasn't a spoken event. It was just some mutual affair that they all seemed to acknowledge. All five of them. Because without the reasons for this day, this memory, none of them would have met. Some of them wouldn't have survived to this point without their cause for reunion.

It saddened Duo to think it, and his heart always tightened and throbbed when he remembered the resilient button of the detonator he had used that day. He was always struck with the sensation that the hard plastic device had been telling him _"No."_ But he had followed through anyway, as had the others.

And so, the five of them gathered every year, on the anniversary of that fateful day. The day that they had ended yet another war, had ended the _final_ war. They had destroyed their all but living machines within twenty four hours of the end, despite the resentment. For some, Heero specifically, there was nothing left to destroy by that point. And on that day he had stood by Duo, knees trembling and threatening to buckle from the stress of the last battle, as he said a final goodbye to his partner, to his savior in more ways than one, goodbye to the mecha that had allowed him to bring the peace he was created to deliver. It was sad to see the metallic extension of himself disappear into the rubble, buried beneath the remains of his comrades' own machines.

The five young pilots did not remember this day often. No more than they had to, in order to keep it alive between them. But still, on that day each year, even as the next century of the After Colony progressed and stretched well into its new peaceful era, they went back to that place in the L-3 colony cluster every year. It was a monument now, well-visited in the year 217 AC, and the artificial sun shone bright overhead as a contrast to that dark 'night' that had ended the war.

And the five former pilots, well into their adult years, met up again and brought flowers to the glorified grave of their not-quite-alive machines. People stopped and stared, some undoubtedly recognizing, and others only sensing something faintly special, as they watched. The soldiers, armed with only the permitted 'weapons' of the era—clearly non-lethal tranquilizers and stun guns—saluted their superiors and stepped aside from their posts, granting closer access to the monument itself. It was a very moving sight, a small remembrance of the strife for the fought-for peace and of the deadly machines that let a minority's ideals become reality for both Earth and Outer Space.

And they came back every year, to lay flowers at the spot.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The dirtied white of Heero's bandages was what initially caught my eye as I entered the dark room. He was sitting at his computer desk, as usual, typing away at his mission report, undoubtedly. I hadn't even heard him come in... but then again, I had been sound asleep on the sofa up until a few minutes ago. I hadn't been expecting Heero to return until morning, and was about to go to bed and conk out for the night, yet here he was, back home again and in one piece, for the most part.

"Welcome back, Hee-chan," I greeted, stepping past the door's threshold and giving the light switch and upward whack. The ceiling lamp flickered on, and I saw Heero nearly startle, turning slowly, _stiffly_ to look at me. Even if it wasn't clear in his eyes, or any other body language for that matter, I knew just by how he had turned in that creaky old chair, that he was hurting.

"Duo," he nodded in an acknowledged greeting before turning away again.

I spoke up before the clatter of keys could resume. My tone was grave, "How bad is it?" I asked and he turned again, slower this time. The look in his eyes was blank as I took a step forward, further into the room. I frowned when I saw a fleck of red begin to blossom from beneath the bandages over his left arm; he was sitting with it propped up over the back of the chair—a normally innocent pose, but it had obviously aggravated whatever sort of abrasion lay beneath the gauze. And yet, Heero's blank gaze only seemed to ask one question as reply to my own.

_"__How__ bad__ is__** what**__?__"_

Like he didn't know he was hurt. Or at least, like he couldn't feel it. Like he didn't care. I stepped closer to him, one foot forward, then another and another, till I was reaching out and my fingers were lightly brushing over the slowly darkening bandages at his arm. Heero's head bent and his thick, dark bangs shadowed his eyes as he gazed at my hand, gazed at his wound. What was going through that stoic mind of his right now? When he looked back up, it seemed as if he hadn't even noticed the blood—he gave it no regard, whatsoever. He didn't care. But I did, and I took it upon myself to care for him at times like this, when he simply would not.

Heero turned back to his computer, and the rhythmic clicking resumed as I stepped away, retreating to the bathroom to gather up our sparse medical supplies. There was a tension in my gut, telling me that his arm would need stitches... and that it wasn't the only place that would, either. I sighed; I really had my work cut out for me tonight... but then, what else was new? He _was_ Heero, after all...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was very early in the morning. It was still pitch black outside, and would be for at least a few more hours—hey, it was winter, after all. Duo had slipped out of his shared bed not ten minutes ago, having woken a few minutes before Heero's alarm had gotten the chance to shock them _both_ back into the waking world. Smirking, he had made the decision to sneakily turn it off and let his lover sleep a bit longer, before they had to leave for their mission quite a bit later that morning. Heero had been more worn out than usual the night before, enough so that he had been noticeably incoherent. Duo knew that he needed rest, and waking long before the crack of dawn, with not even seven solid hours of rest, would only serve to bring Heero down even further. Duo didn't want to risk Heero being even remotely below his best, and he knew how important it was for his lover to rest—it wasn't uncommon for Heero to push himself to complete and total exhaustion when he simply didn't have the time to sleep; he was too dedicated to his work to _make_ time. So that left the job of time-making up to Duo, who was more than willing to take on the responsibility.

There were still several preparations to be made before they were to set out, hence there being such an early setting on Heero's alarm, but Duo was confident that he could get quite a bit of it done on his own long before they needed to leave—Heero was extremely diligent when it came to such preparations, and usually tended to allot himself more time than needed. So, still not quite awake yet, but more than capable to deal with his and Heero's Gundams as needed—hell, he had done emergency reformatting on his own Gundam's software in worse conditions than simply being groggy—Duo headed out through the chilly darkness to where they were currently hiding their Gundams. He didn't have to worry about Heero waking while he was gone, since, when overly tired like he was, Heero was known for sleeping long past how many hours he claimed to need... given the sun remained below the horizon long enough for that to happen; dawn was like the kick start to Heero's internal clock.

Yawning hugely, Duo clamored up to Wing ZERO's cockpit and entered in his password combination—a long series of letters and numbers, along with a hand print and iris scan—so that the air locked compartment would open up for him. He eased himself down into the pilot's seat, taking a slow breath of the familiar musk that had long since permeated the leather and metal he was surrounded with. Reaching up—the Gundam was lying flat on its backside—he typed in the code to start up the core computers that ran the giant machine. Wing needed one last diagnostic run before it could surely be ready for the battlefield, and after the extensive amount of damage it had taken in the previous fight, the high speed computer was going to need at least half an hour to complete the task. So now, with the system scan running, Duo gave the cockpit's supply compartments a once over, making sure Heero had really restocked his first aid and food stores like he had needed to—Duo was glad to see that he had, since the task hadn't been done in quite some time.

Letting the computer continue to run, Duo climbed out and made his way to his own Gundam, entering the cockpit and running a localized diagnostic on the active cloak and hyper-jammer systems. They had both needed extensive repairs after his last mission, and he just wanted to be sure that his work had been complete. Everything, in both Gundams, turned out fine, just as Duo had suspected—there was no repair work left here to be done, so he returned to the safe house. It was still dark. Checking the clock, Duo saw that he had only been gone for about an hour.

Duo snuck quietly into the bedroom, smiling lovingly at the still-sleeping lump under the covers that was Heero, lying curled up on his side. His lover's end of the bed faced the closet, so as Duo stepped over to retrieve some clean clothes, he paused for a moment to glance at Heero's sleeping form—his cobalt eyes were still behind his closed lids, and his chest rose and fell in slow, deep breaths. He was sound asleep. Still smiling lightly, Duo eased open the closet door ever so slightly, reaching in to grab the first black shadows he saw hanging within—aside from Heero's spandex shorts, which faintly reflected the moonlight streaming through the window, there was no black in the closet aside from Duo's clothes; it was clear what belonged to who.

Still silent, Duo stepped out of the room and into the lone bathroom, where he brushed out his hair and turned on the shower. The water turned off after about twenty minutes, and Duo stepped out, clean and feeling a bit more awake—there was only one more thing he needed to wake him up completely, and that came _after_ his shower: coffee. Mind on other thoughts, Duo once again brushed out his thick, wavy hair and braided it tightly, before mussing his damp bangs roughly with his fingers. He dressed, picked up his dirty pajamas from the floor and left the bathroom. The safe house was still silent, still dark. It was about half an hour till sunrise. Duo dropped his clothes into the nearly full laundry basket at the end off the hall, picking it up and taking it out to the garage, where the washing machine and dryer resided. One of the few things that needed to be done before they left for their mission was the laundry, which Heero preferred to do for some odd reason, even though Duo was perfectly capable of the domestic chore. He removed the load of towels that had been left in the washer overnight—it was winter, so nothing got smelly if left damp for a few hours—and transferred them to the dryer, turning the timer to 70 and letting it run. Most of the clothes Heero and Duo wore were dark enough to be washed together in one load, so Duo sorted the basket and dropped his pajamas, several of Heero's shirts, a pair of skull print boxers, and many other articles into the cylindrical machine. Duo checked the settings before turning the washer on. He returned into the warm house.

Not needing to flip on the kitchen light, Duo retrieved the coffee grounds from the cabinet and did his best to be quiet as he cleaned out the coffeemaker from its last use. With enough grounds and water to make more than enough of the morning beverage for both him and Heero, Duo clicked on the much-used appliance and went to get two mugs and a spoon. Since Heero would probably be upset—although secretly grateful—about oversleeping, Duo decided to wake him up with a nice, hot cup of coffee. Heero had never cared much for it, but after spending so much time with his lover, he had come to enjoy it, and even brew a cup for himself at times. (He usually wouldn't have any unless Duo was, since he seemed to see it as one of the little things they really only did together).

Duo smiled softly as he poured the coffee, putting noticeably less cream and sugar in Heero's cup compared to his own—Heero liked it bitter, but not totally black, while Duo was nearly the complete opposite.

And yet, for how long he had been quiet, letting Heero sleep as long as possible, Duo should've known he would've slipped up sooner or later. When he was turning to gently place the used spoon in the sink, it slipped from his fingers and clattered loudly as it hit the metal basin. Duo froze, turning his head abruptly towards the entrance of the kitchen, expecting to see Heero appear there any minute, having woken to the sudden noise and assuming it was an intruder. He must've stood there for a good three minutes, waiting, but Heero never showed. Maybe the fallen spoon hadn't been as loud in the back of the house, behind the closed bedroom door, as it had been in the kitchen.

Shaking his head slowly and heaving a relieved sigh, Duo picked up the coffee mugs, taking a sip of his own, and stepped towards the bedroom. Heero was still sound asleep in the bed, much to Duo's surprise, and it wouldn't be long until the rising sun woke him anyway—it was January, so sunrise was around seven in the morning. Placing both cups on the nightstand, Duo knelt beside the bed, gazing again at Heero's peacefully sleeping face. "Heero," he whispered softly, a hand on his lover's shoulder, "time to wake up, babe."

Heero stirred slowly, having long since learned not to jolt awake at the soothing murmurs of his lover's voice. His cobalt eyes opened unhurriedly and he smiled sleepily, seeing Duo's face not inches from his own. Clearly groggy, he pushed forward slightly, pressing his lips to Duo's in a 'good morning' kiss. "Hey..." he mumbled softly, "what're you doin' up already...?"

Duo chuckled softly, picking up Heero's coffee and holding it out for him, "For you."

Propping himself up on one arm, Heero took the hot cup gratefully. "Thanks, love," he smiled before taking a long sip, eyes closed.

"I took care of most of the chores already," Duo said, taking his own coffee and pausing to drink some. "I ran diagnostics on both our Gundams, and they're both at one hundred percent. The laundry's changed over, and all that's left is to get together our camping and stealth gear, then when the laundry's done, pack our bags and head out."

Heero was finally a bit more awake now, and he glanced at the clock. His eyes went wide. "Duo? ...Didn't I set my alarm last night?" he looked closer, seeing that the knob on the digital clock had been switched to Off.

Duo shrugged, "You needed sleep, and I woke up early. I turned it off before it could wake you. Did you sleep good, at least?"

Heero nodded, but his tone was reluctant, "Yeah, but... we have to leave for our mission in a few hours."

"And a few hours is more than enough time. There's really not much that needs to be done," completed Duo, before drinking more of his coffee.

"True," Heero said, "And I _was_ really tired last night... I guess it's okay that you let me sleep in." The corners of Heero's lips curled up slightly in a half smile. He leaned in to kiss Duo again.

"No prob, Heero," Duo smiled, before taking on an expression of mock urgency, "Now drink your coffee then go shower, we gotta leave for our mission in a few hours!"

They laughed.

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"Unnnnhhh..." Duo moaned, finally coming out of the darkness he had fallen into three days ago. I had remained by his side this entire time, waiting patiently for this very moment. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

Duo's one unbandaged eye began to flutter open and stare up blearily, and his free hand lifted to reach at the white hazing to the left of his limited vision. Before his fingers could touch the layer of gauze, I let my free hand wrap carefully around the brace at his wrist. That seemed to get him to notice my presence, and he turned to gaze at me, confusion clear despite the groggy, unfocused look in his one visible eye. His lips parted as if he was about to speak, but I did so first. "It's okay, Duo," I assured him, "Your eye is fine. The shrapnel just missed it." Pausing, I lowered his wrist so that it rested over his stomach, "Does anything hurt?"

After several silent moments, Duo's still parted lips closed and he nodded his head slightly, "Mmm..."

"Where?" I asked, placing my palm gently over his braced one over his belly, as well as affectionately squeezing his other hand with my own.

Duo whimpered softly, but no coherent word made it past his lips.

"Is it your chest?" I supplied, remembering how bruised it had been when I had last gone over his wounds a few hours ago. He nodded again, but I suspected that wasn't his only ache, "What about your leg?" Another small nod, only with a pained whimper this time. I didn't need to name everywhere else that was surely hurting him. Slipping my hand from the one over his stomach, I turned slightly, reaching for the pre-filled syringe of morphine from the open first aid kit on the nightstand. I sighed, pulling off the cap of the needle and slipping it slowly into Duo's arm. His eye closed as the pain killing drug hazed away his barely coherent consciousness. Duo returned to the dark world he had hardly woken from only minutes ago...

. . .

Four days later had Duo finally completely coherent, and despite the pain, back to his normal self. I was glad about that, and though he insisted that he was okay enough to do so, I forbade him from getting up from bed and moving around too much—even with a crutch.

The cut near his eye was surely healed enough by now for the bandaging to be removed, so as Duo lay on his side, watching me with one violet eye, I gently pulled away the white gauze. The bedroom was dim, so that when Duo's finally uncovered eye was exposed to light, it wouldn't hurt his surely too dilated pupil. With the bandaging gone, Duo blinked at me with _both_ brilliant violet eyes for the first time in an entire week. He smiled, pushing himself up onto his elbow, implying that he wanted me to kiss him. I obliged more than gladly, kissing him softly, lovingly. When we broke apart, Duo let the fingers of his braced hand—his wrist was badly sprained—ghost over the cut that had been under the bandaging. I had figured he'd want to see it, so I held out a small mirror; he took it, grinning.

"Whoa, that's badass!" Duo's grin only widened as he looked over the nasty cut, almost admiringly. I couldn't help but smirk. The scabbed cut was a perfectly straight slash, running diagonally from the bridge of his nose, through his eyebrow and up across his forehead, into his hairline—the shrapnel responsible had missed his eye by a mere fraction of an inch. "I really hope this leaves a scar—that'd be epic!"

I shook my head, having expected those very words since that first night, a full week ago. "I'm sure it will, babe," my tone betrayed my amusement. Duo had a thing for scars, whether they were on his own body or someone else's—that someone else namely being me—he just thought that, by default, lots of scars made a person 'cool'.

. . .

Duo seemed to be back on his feet in no time—his leg hadn't been broken—and we were piloting our Gundams and going on missions together again. My lover was sporting several new scars, although the one over his eye was clearly his favorite, and it seemed to become him. I could only imagine how much more of an intimidation effect his title of Shinigami now had when he killed his enemies face to face. A scarred, angry sixteen year old boy, claiming to be the God of Death as he pointed a gun to some Ozzie's head? No wonder his amused reports of his victims peeing their pants before even dieing came more and more often nowadays...

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"So, what should we do now, Heeeeero? It's only like... eleven thirty," questioned Duo, clicking out of the file on his computer that the two of them had just been looking at. Duo was perched on the old, creaky computer chair, while Heero sat cross legged on the air mattress on the floor. Heero remained silent.

"Hello? Uh, Earth to Heero..." Duo said after a few moments, before finally turning to gaze at the other pilot. He instantly smirked at what he saw—Heero had nodded off. The young Wing pilot was sitting with his back against the side of Duo's bed, his head bent and hands limp in his lap. Duo quirked an eyebrow, wondering how in the world someone could actually be tired enough to sleep so early at night. It wasn't even midnight yet! After a moment though, a mischievous grin spread across Duo's features—he had an idea. Quietly reaching over to the glass of ice water he had on the desk, Duo pulled out an ice cube. He then leaned back towards Heero, careful to not make his chair creak, and dropped the frozen water right down the front of Heero's green tank top. The smaller pilot then turned back to his computer, acting as if nothing had happened.

Not even a moment later, Heero was jolted awake by the cold sensation pressing against his stomach. He didn't have the slightest idea as to what it was... And, due to his lack of coherency, automatically assumed the worst: he was injured. To his sleepy mind, that icy feeling was most logically explained by some sort of painful wound. Perhaps he had been poisoned, and that was why it felt this way. And yet, it wasn't until Heero heard Duo chuckling quietly that he fully came to his senses. Clutching the cold, wet spot on his tank top, Heero glared up at Duo, realization clear in his hard gaze.

"Well that was a great way to wake you up, Hee-chan!" Duo grinned, laughing in earnest now. Heero just glared, simply too tired to deal—he'd just have to get Duo back in the morning, because at the moment, both his mind and body wanted nothing more than to go to sleep.

With a grunt, Heero stood. Having finally realized what it was that was causing such cold discomfort, he untucked his tank top and let the ice cube fall to the floor, not even bothering to pick it up. Instead, the Wing pilot just glared at Duo for a moment, then turned, going to climb into the warm sleeping bag on top of the air mattress. He was going to sleep now, whether Duo wanted him to or not.

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"Oi, Heero! Lookit down there! Looks like a great place to hide our Gundams and camp out!" I said into the comm., glancing at the monitor displaying Heero's cockpit.

"_Affirmative,__"_ Heero's tone was nothing if not void of emotion as we began our descent. The land below was a green hillside, with a river not far from its end. Tall, tall trees—cottonwoods, according to Deathscythe's on-board intelligence banks—lined one side of the river, while the other was crisscrossed with some sort of overgrown orchard. Life-source scans of the nearby farmhouse picked up nothing—the place was abandoned.

Not minutes later, Deathscythe was settling down into the undergrowth of the hillside, nestled between two cottonwoods and their interlinking strands of vine—wild grapes, according to my Gundam. Heero landed Wing ZERO in a similar den nearby. By the time everything was shut down and covered in camouflage tarp, the sun was dangerously close to slipping below the far off horizon. It would have been impossible to see anything clearer than silhouetted outlines at ground level, had Heero and I not been trained for such settings; despite that though, it was still difficult to see, especially with the wind blowing and tussling every shadow. The rushing sound of the river, which was not far off, was the most distinct to my ears, closely followed by that made the rest of the surrounding wildlife—I heard no possible threats approaching.

"Heero?" I called lowly into the shadows, staring almost blindly into the near darkness. I knew Heero had better night vision than I did—which was really saying something, mind you—so I figured it best for him to come to me, rather than visa versa. I didn't hear a reply for many minutes and I stepped a few paces forward, away from Deathscythe. I spun slowly, looking around as well as up at the faintly indigo sky. I nearly panicked when I felt a hand clap over my mouth, as well as an arm locking around my narrow waist.

"Shh, Duo. It's me," Heero's voice was only a fraction above silent as it tickled my ear. I relaxed against him, obviously knowing he wasn't an enemy. Heero released me, only to take my shoulder and bring my ear to his lips again. "Not a word, Duo. Not a sound. It's too dark to cross the river and inspect that farm house. We'll camp out tonight." And then his hand slipped down my shoulder, taking my hand. He breathed one more word before pulling away, "Silence." Heero led me slowly, through the damp, knee deep undergrowth. I knew he could see well enough not too trip, but he kept the pace deliberate enough for me to test the footing of every step I took. I could only wonder where he was leading me as we headed deeper into this rapidly chilling night.

After what felt like hours of walking down one narrow path after the next, Heero finally stopped. He took a step away from me, still holding my hand, in a direction that I somehow knew was a stray from the animal trail. I felt him lower down, raising his arm as to not pull me with him, and I wondered what he was doing. But I knew not to speak; he had told me not to, and I understood why—we weren't supposed to be here, so silence was the key. A minute or so later, Heero gave my hand a pull, urging me to step forward a bit, then ease down to join him. I did so and, letting one hand probe the ground below me, I found that we were kneeling on a sort of bed of grass—someone must've flattened it all down and used it as a place to sleep not that long ago.

Heero's warm lips were next to my ears again, and his hot breath sent icy shivers down my spine, "We'll rest here for tonight."

I nodded, not sure if he could see it, and lay down on the damp, chilly grass. I realized then, that it hadn't just been Heero's proximity making me shiver—it was terribly cold now that the sun had been completely set for a while. Heero's near silence drifted into my ear again, "Lie closer to me. It's too cold." I realized then, that I was still holding Heero's hand. I didn't let go as I inched closer to him, my heart racing. His other arm slipped around my waist, pulling me into him all the way—I felt the warmth of his chest begin to spread through me. I had never lain with Heero like this before, despite how many times we had camped out... although this was also the first time that we had slept outside without anything to keep us warm on our own.

I was still shivering as Heero's legs wrapped around mine, linking them and pulling me ever closer. I began to wonder if this proximity was merely a means to keep warm, and not something more... my mind said it was nothing more than Heero's intense survival instincts, while my heart pleaded for it to be more, so, so much more. But I knew it wasn't, couldn't be more than just Heero's training—he was Heero after all; he had no compassion, no matter how much I adored, _loved_ him.

But many minutes passed, and my fluttering heart began to slow. I was drifting off, but having trouble passing the line between wakefulness and sleep. Heero must've thought I had already nodded off, because I felt his hand, which was draped over my side loosely, move to gently begin to rub small circles in my back. It felt so nice, despite the fact that I couldn't believe that it was _Heero_ showing such tenderness. After a while, his hand slipped back to my side, sliding to rest at my hip—I felt him lightly thumb the protruding bone of my pelvis; it was an odd sensation, but definitely not a bad one. His palm eventually slipped to the small of my back after that, and that silent tone of his murmured one more sentence, "Sleep well, Duo." I felt him shift ever so slightly, and then his lips pressed against the tip of my nose for a moment, before he pulled back.

...Heero had just kissed me! C-could it be true? Could he possibly _like_ me? In the same way I liked him? It took all of my willpower to remain as if I were sleeping, as Heero thought I was, and he eventually drifted off into his own dreams. I heard his breathing slow as his body stilled beside mine. I surrendered to the darkness as well, my mind filling with dreams of Heero and his warming embrace. I think he did like me too...

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He was sitting there when I walked in. Sitting on the old computer chair, a serious look on his face for once. His expression had me so distracted, that I almost didn't notice the reason behind it, didn't notice what he was doing. Duo had his headphones on, so I knew he hadn't heard me approach—I decided not to alert him to my presence, decided to watch. And so I watched as he prepared the small length of gauze, and set out the sheet of tissue. He reached into his pocket, drawing out a small, shiny object—I recognized its shape immediately: a razor blade. He pushed up the long sleeve over his right arm, making a fist and baring up his pale, pale skin... and let the sharp metal sink into it. I could see the amount of pressure he was exerting, deepening the wound as he ran the razor through his smooth skin. The flesh parted unwillingly to the silvery intruder, allowing blood to seep out and bead at the surface.

Duo's expression remained unchanged as he sat there, repeating the clearly practiced motion once more, creating a parallel line. He seemed as if he was so full of sorrow, yet unwilling to shed it in tears. Rather than the clear, salty liquid, he shed his sadness in the form of the crimson, metallic fluid that coursed through his veins.

Duo completed a third parallel as I began to wonder: what caused a _human_ to turn on itself and injure its own body? I knew that other animals were partial to the same acts, but why humans? Didn't our consciousnesses and higher levels of thinking nullify the primal instinct to inflict self-harm? I didn't know, and I wanted Duo to stop. Most of me wanted him to stop. A small, sickly curious part of me wanted him to continue on with this odd act of de-evolution, so that I could analyze it, so that I could figure out _why_ he was compelled to do such a thing. But most of me wanted him to stop.

And yet I watched, indulging my curiosity as Duo finished up, placing the tiny razor on the desk. He took the tissue, holding it over the new wounds and soaking up the brunt of the blood. When he was done with that, I watched as he cleaned the razor with the tissue, then bent to bury the used paper at the bottom of the almost full trash basket next to the desk—I wondered briefly: how many tissues just like that one had gone unnoticed in the waste bin until now? Duo then wrapped the gauze around his arm, securing it and pulling down his sleeve.

He turned back to his computer, bringing up his music player and turning it off. Duo put his headphones on the desk as he stood, slipping the razor back into his pocket as he turned, gaze on the floor. He still hadn't noticed me.

"Duo..." my voice sounded almost... sad. Like I was disappointed in him for hurting himself like he had been—was I?

He stopped dead now, looking up at me with wide, undoubtedly fearful violet eyes. "H-Heero..." he stammered, taking a small step back. Duo paused, then in a strained whisper, "Did you... see...?"

I simply nodded in answer, stepping forward to counter Duo's retreating pace.

In response, Duo hung his head, his tousled bangs shading his eyes. I wasn't quite sure of myself as I took a few steps closer to him, reaching out and placing my hand on his sagging shoulder. Duo looked up right away at the sensation of my touch, "H-Heero?" But then he stammered and lowered his gaze, clenching his hands into fists. "I know you don't understand, but it feels good. It helps me cope. You probably think I'm really screwed up; you must think I'm like defective or something for purposefully hurting myself!" I saw a rush of tears slide down Duo's cheeks as he shook his head and pulled away from me, trying to get around me to the door. I wouldn't let him slip away from me just yet.

I reached to grab Duo's left arm, only for him to hiss in pain as my fingers wrapped around his slender limb. I instantly loosened my hold, only to slip down and grasp his hand tightly. Duo, frozen now, stared at me in shock. I stepped closer to him, and he managed to come back to himself enough to back away again, slowly, slowly, until his backside hit the wall.

"I–I... I..." Duo stammered, looking up at me now with his sad, scared violet eyes.

Not saying a word, I lifted Duo's left arm, the one I had grabbed. I gently pushed back the sleeve, noting how Duo grimaced and turned away. Wrapped around Duo's forearm was a layer of gauze, identical to the fresh one on his right arm. I pulled Duo's sleeve up higher, revealing many more already healed cuts. The scars ranged from hardly visible, to painfully obvious—Duo had been cutting himself like this for a long time... how had I not known until now?

Duo tried to pull his left arm from my grasp, but I wouldn't let him. He squirmed slightly, trying to get away; and yet he didn't say a word. It was like Duo was... subdued. As if whatever had caused him to cut himself had put him in a powerfully solemn mood—I didn't like it. While Duo was busy trying to escape my grip, I slipped my hand into his pocket, removing the razor and holding it up between two fingers. He froze, staring at it for a moment before reaching up and trying to snatch it back. But I pulled my hand away, slipping the tiny blade into the pocket of my tightly fitting jeans.

"How often do you cut yourself?" I asked, sounding a little harsher than I would've liked. It was clear that he hurt himself often, by the obviously unhealed wounds on his left arm, as well as by the fact that he had started to cut his right arm now.

Duo looked away again, having given up on trying to steal back his razorblade. He was clearly reluctant to answer my question, and it took him a few moments to finally do so, "S-sometimes once a week... sometimes almost every day..." And I instantly knew that right now was the latter of the two instances—he must've just cut his left arm yesterday, then today his right.

"I want you to stop." Duo looked up at me, shocked. "I don't want you to keep hurting yourself. It's not good... Come and talk to me when you're sad, instead." I couldn't quite believe what I had just told him, especially the last bit, but not even one fiber of my being protested against it. I cared about Duo, whether I wanted to acknowledge that fact or not.

"Y-you... you mean it...?" Duo asked, shocked and still relatively afraid.

I didn't hesitate for a second, "Yes." And then, tentatively, with Duo's hand still in mine, and my other slipping to rest at his waist, I leaned in closer to him. Our breath mingled and his violet eyes blurred in front of mine, as we were simply too near for my eyes to focus.

"Heero..." Duo's tone held a different fear and apprehension this time, and he tried to push back, further into the solid wall.

I pressed my lips to Duo's then, kissing him hard and impulsively. Duo moaned and I continued to ravage his mouth with my own. But after a moment, his free hand came up to gently hold my shoulder, and his lips began to fight back against my own. I deepened the kiss, holding Duo's hand pinned flat against the wall, squeezing and caressing his bony hip with my other.

I pulled back after some time, leaning my forehead against Duo's as we caught our breath, staring blurrily into each other's eyes. "Duo... I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore... please..." I murmured, closing my eyes and giving his hand a light squeeze.

"Okay..." was his quiet reply. Duo's hand slipped from my shoulder to my cheek, and he smiled softly, "Thank you, Heero..."

"You're welcome, Duo," and I kissed him again, knowing that I could get rid of his silvery razor—Duo wouldn't need it anymore.

* * *

**and there you have it! haha i hope they were good. **

**i just wanna say, that the second prompt on the Ten Genre part, the AU one is serving as the basis for my NaNo novel. of course, i had to switch out heero and duo (duo was replaced by a girl, poor guy XD) and it's coming along quite nicely :D**

**well, hopefully it wont be tooooo long before you guys hear from me again XD**


	26. Christmas Drabble

**so, christmas is almost here! and i've been putting off posting this ^-^;; **

**this drabble was the day six entry of akira 1x2's gundam wing advent callendar :D it was so awesome to get to go that :D so for those of you that havent gotten to read this yet, enjoy! :D and happy holidays!**

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"C'mon Duo, cheer up! It's Christmas Eve!" Hilde smiled at me, but it was somewhat forced, somewhat sad. She pulled me from the kitchen and into the living room of her small house on L-2, dragging me towards the decorated tree beside the warmly burning fireplace. I distantly registered the way the shiny ornaments twinkled with the multicolored lights laced within the short evergreen's boughs.

I let her pull me, not bothering to fight or really show any sort of spirit, like I would have just over five months ago. I was really nothing more than simply a shell of myself nowadays, and that condition had worsened a few weeks ago, when I had officially run out of leads to follow.

Hilde's smile turned down slightly at my complete lack of reaction. Her fingers slipped from my forearm to my hand, grasping it tightly in reassurance—reassurance from a friend, and nothing more. My hand still in hers, she pulled me down onto a loveseat sofa and stepped away for a minute. Somewhere in my mind, I had realized that she was struggling to act as if I was still the old me, as if I was still smiling and laughing along with her like normal—it must've been a hard act to keep up.

She returned after a moment with a box wrapped in shiny paper; she pushed it into my hands, which had been resting limply in my lap. "Open it," she smiled somewhat, "You get to open one present on Christmas Eve, so here you go. Merry Christmas, Duo." She sat down beside me as I numbly began to pull at the wrappings of the box.

Hilde took the paper and top of the box as I proceeded to open the package. A hint of a sad smile flickered at the corners of my mouth as I saw what was folded neatly within the flimsy cardboard. A warm black sweater and scarf lie in the box and I pulled them out, looking them over. Hilde had been bothering me about the fact that I hadn't brought any warm clothes with me to L-2, so I guess it only made sense that she had gotten me a coat. I pulled it on, nodding to her faintly in thanks. Had I still been the me from mere months ago, I would've been much louder and more obvious in my honest gratitude.

Now, it was my turn to give Hilde her gift. I had gotten her a pretty necklace at the spaceport back on Earth, shortly after she and Quatre had convinced me to spend the holidays on L-2 with friends, rather than alone with my thoughts—I don't think they trusted me to be alone at a time like this. I rose from the sofa and stepped over to the tree, picking up a small box wrapped in brown paper. I handed it to her, mumbling a small, sad, "Merry Christmas, Hilde."

She hugged me tightly after she opened the package and saw the shiny bauble within. I could feel her shoulders trembling as I hesitantly lifted my hands to rest at her shoulders. "Thank you, Duo, this is beautiful," she pulled back, smiling almost completely despite the sadness in her eyes. She fastened the silvery chain around her neck.

Hilde stood then, pulling me with her towards the front door of the house. She shrugged on her coat and buttoned it up, "Let's go get somethin' to eat, 'kay, Duo?" I just nodded in response.

We walked together down the sidewalk to a restaurant not far from her house. I was silent the entire time, numb, my mind dwelling on other thoughts...

. . .

Well, I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense as to why I'm like this—all quiet and whatnot. Let me rewind back to five months ago...

Back in the beginning of June, Heero had been sent on a solo mission—no team, no partners to watch his back. A static-laden status update had been the last anyone had heard from him. I could still remember exactly—thanks to the many, many times that I had listened to it—what the message had said.

"_June... AC 201... Yuy reporti— —ission is... go... Won't be abl— ...update for— —ile... love you, Duo... over and ou—"_

And that was it. Heero had been due back from that mission at the end of two weeks, at the latest, but he had never shown. By the end of the month, he had been reported MIA, missing in action, and I had turned in my Preventers badge. I just couldn't bear to be working there—especially in the office we had shared—without Heero around. Just before my computer access had been revoked, I had hacked the Preventer databases and found where Heero's mission had been located. That was my initial lead in my—at first—seemingly endless search to find my missing lover.

That, and every following lead, had been a dead end. As each hint to find my Heero grew more and more vague, I began to lose myself. My smile and the glitter in my eyes began to fade as despondency took over. I soon found myself following leads that had barely even a trace of validity—one of them actually led me to L-1, for fuck's sake.

I had just returned to Earth on another faulty trail, in mid December, when Quatre finally managed to contact me. By then, I had been as I am now—completely lacking in any sort of _life_, in any sort of hope or happiness.

Once he finally managed to get me to stay on the line of the vid conversation, Quatre called up Hilde and we had a three way connection. Both of them were clearly worried about me—they were my two closest friends, after all—and didn't want me to be alone during the holidays. They had basically tag-teamed me into raising the white flag and agreeing to stay with Hilde for the next few weeks. It wasn't like money was an issue for me, but Quatre had even insisted to buy my shuttle ticked from Earth to L-2—it probably was his way of making sure I actually went, rather than just 'agreeing' then blowing them off.

And so I had taken up my already packed duffel and headed back to the spaceport. Hilde picked me up at the L-2 port, and I was to stay with her until at least after New Years. Quatre was going to visit a few days after Christmas—he would come sooner, but he was swamped with holiday events that he was to host as the CEO of the Winner Corporation.

Part of me felt that it was nice to be settled in the same place for more than a few days, as well as to have the company of my best friend. But equally, if not more, I wanted to be back out there, searching for my missing life partner. I longed for him dearly, needed to find him—every day I sat around, being watched by my friend's worried eyes, my lover was out there, wherever 'there' was, probably struggling to survive and find his way home again...

. . .

Hilde and I sat at one of the back booths of the dimmed restaurant. She tried to get me to join in on a currently one-sided conversation, but I just couldn't bring myself to speak. In the past months, I had taken to drinking to help relax and ease away the troubled thoughts. I knew not to let it escalate into an addiction, but I wouldn't deny that I had quickly grown to desire the haze brought on by the alcohol.

I sipped at the cool glass held between my chilled fingers, half listening to Hilde's small talk. I nodded faintly in thanks when the waitress brought me another round, before taking our orders.

After a while, Hilde reached out and put her hand on my wrist. I lifted my gaze to meet her eyes, questioning. "Duo, can you please put the drink down? Just for tonight? It's Christmas—you can get wasted every other night... just please... not tonight..." Her bluish stare was pleading, almost teary, and a strong feeling of guilt surfaced just below the numbness. I put the glass down, near the side of the table, before crossing my arms on the table and resting my chin on them, averting my eyes.

"Thank you, Duo..." she murmured quietly.

It was silent for a while, save for the low chatter of other customers, and hum of holiday music. Hilde soon began to talk again, going on quietly about New Years plans, and how seeing Quatre might help cheer me up.

At that, I wanted to shake my head and tell her no. Seeing Quatre wouldn't make me happy, wouldn't even get me to smile. I just wanted to see Heero again, wanted to find him. Nothing would bring me back, except for my lover. I wanted to tell her this truth, but I couldn't bring myself to say it, couldn't get the words to my lips—I just couldn't bear to hurt her further than I already had by being so closed up.

If I had been a little more aware—or even with a little less alcohol in my system—I might've noticed that our food was taking longer than usual to arrive. (During the roughly two weeks that I had been here, we came to this restaurant often.) Hilde had taken my drink—it had been my third glass, and was still nearly full—and had finished it by now, so it was understandable that she hadn't noticed either.

A few minutes later, someone—presumably a waiter—came and set our plates down in front of us. "Here you go," the person said, and my hazy mind took a few moments to register the voice. The 'waiter' remained there for a few moments, as if expecting something, and before the voice had even registered, I turned to look up at him, wondering why he was still there. As I turned, I had half noticed Hilde's wide-eyed stare—she looked as if she was seeing a ghost. When I saw the man standing beside our table, my eyes, too, went wide.

"HEERO!" I flung myself from the booth and right into his arms, nearly knocking him over. His familiar, musky scent instantly filled my nose as his arms locked around my waist. My heart was pounding in my chest and I began to sob, nearly uncontrollably. I had no clue how, Heero was back!

"You're back...! Heero, you're back!" I cried into his shoulder, again and again. Distantly, I registered 'aww's and clapping from the restaurant's other patrons and staff.

"I finally found you," Heero breathed, hugging me tighter and swaying us back and forth slowly. I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head and I pulled back slightly, pushing myself up and meshing my lips to his in a demanding, longing, heart-felt kiss.

When we broke away, gasping, I managed a trembling, "H-how...?" and he smiled softly, easing us down to sit in the cushioned bench of the booth.

Heero held me tight, and gave a smiling nod to Hilde, who was still shocked beyond belief. He began to tell us all about his half of the past five months. I was so relieved to hear the sound of his voice, to feel him in my arms. "That mission I had been on, five months ago, had gone completely wrong. I had been captured and held hostage for about a month, until I managed to escape. I had to go into hiding though, since those bastards came after me and I couldn't risk getting caught again. I managed to stay safe until I had recovered and my injuries had healed, and I went back to finish my mission.

"I stayed hidden, even after though, just in case they had informed other rebel factions about me. After a few weeks of waiting for things to calm down somewhat, I got a chance to hack into the Preventers database to make sure that those assholes didn't have any known friends. I also checked up on you, to see if I had to wait for you to return from any missions before I tried to find you, but I saw that you had been discharged from service..." his voice faded for a moment, before he asked quietly, "What happened, Duo? Why were you discharged...?"

It took me a minute or two to find my voice, and it was low and scratchy from disuse—I hardly ever spoke, these past few months. "I-I wasn't discharged... I quit Preventers... I couldn't bear to be there without you... I had to find you..."

Heero's arms held me even tighter, if that was possible, "Gods Duo... I wish I could've found you sooner, or at least contacted you somehow..." Heero paused again, before continuing with his story. "Well... after I saw that on the database, I spent the next three months following your trail. You were so hard to track, never spending more than a few days in one place..."

"I was following every lead I could to find you..." I interrupted, nuzzling my head into his chest.

"Oh Duo... I was right behind you the whole time... Everywhere I went, I was at least two days behind you... I could never catch up. But then, about two weeks ago, you just disappeared."

I was about to say that that was when I came here to L-2, but Hilde spoke up instead, her quiet tone grave. "That's when he came here. Quatre and I managed to convince him that he needed to spend the holidays with friends, rather than alone... We were both really worried that he wouldn't make it past Christmas without you..." I shuddered, knowing she was probably right. The tears resumed their flow as I curled further against Heero, barely biting back a quiet whimper. I was relieved that Hilde had stepped up and told Heero all this, rather than leaving me to say it. "He... he just couldn't cope by the time he got here... T-the Duo we all know just disappeared, gone... and I couldn't figure out how to bring him back. Even my company didn't help at all. He just shut me out... shut out the whole world..."

Heero nuzzled the top of my head, "I'm so sorry, Duo..." His hands rubbed my back gently, as if to reassure me of his presence. After a few minutes of quiet, he looked up again, presumably at Hilde. "Two nights ago, I had a dream about this place, and when I woke up, I just knew that this was where I would find Duo... I looked up where it was, and got on the next shuttle out here." Heero chuckled quietly, and I felt the rumble in his chest, "I actually walked in only a few minutes after you two had, and I made a deal with the staff to let me bring you your food like I did. It's Christmas Eve, after all, so I had to do something special."

"Well it was a good plan," I murmured into Heero's chest, "I missed you so much..."

"I missed you too, Duo. I love you."

I pulled away slightly, looking up at him and smiling in earnest for the first time in five months. "I love you too, Heero. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too, love," and he pressed his lips to mine in a tender kiss.

OWARI~

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**sappp. fluff. you guys know the drill by now XD anywho, please review! i'll consider it a christmas present and love it forever and ever XD**

**well, until next time, my dear friends! :D**


	27. Ace

**what? i'm still alive? why yes, yes i am. i'm sad to say i've fallen out of this fandom, and have had one of those critical cases of writer's block for several months XP i'm slowly getting my writing back, and this came to me a little while ago.**

**i've always seen duo as a character that i could express myself through. this time is really no different. i'm not entirely happy with this, but that's because i couldn't get myself to write it the other way it could've gone. well, enjoy. and if you're offended, what are you doing reading yaoi anyway?  
**

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"H-Heero… I…" Duo stammered, pulling away as the other boy's arms wrapped tightly around him. "S-Stop…"

The slightly taller boy paused for the briefest of moments, before brushing off the other's words and continuing his previous actions. Duo stiffened further, trying harder to pull away. "Heero, stop it…!" he put up a hand, pushing at Heero's chest.

"What is it, baka?" Heero nearly growled, in that low tone of his. He did not release Duo from the iron cage his arms made.

Duo tried to pull away again, but to no avail. "I-I don't want this…. I don't want to go any further with you. I-I… I can't." The smaller boy looked away, trying to ignore the rigid grip on his shoulder, the wiry arms wrapped around him like a vice.

"Why." It was hardly a question.

Duo swallowed hard. He would not stutter. "I'm asexual. I don't want to have sex with you. Or anyone."

Heero's far from affectionate embrace loosened a fraction, before breaking completely after a few agonizing moments of silence. "Okay," was all the spandex-wearing teen said before he rose from his seat on the bed… and simply walked out of the room.

Duo remained where he sat, dumbfounded. He could usually decipher the meanings behind the other's actions, but not this time. Heero's leaving the room could've been an act of acceptance or rejection. Duo cursed himself silently, only able to accept the idea of the latter possibility. He shouldn't have said anything. He cared about Heero so much, but now he couldn't be with him because he was afraid of a tight hug and some kissing.

Duo shuddered at that very thought. He couldn't stand kissing. Quatre had kissed him once, in a moment of emotional weakness for the blonde, and Duo had hated it, absolutely hated it. He couldn't pinpoint why, he just knew. It was the same with the idea of sex. It just seemed so wrong, so traumatizing, to ever let anyone 'make love' to you. Sex wasn't 'making love' to Duo, and neither was kissing. Both were things he had absolutely no wish to partake in, not just because the sheer vulnerability frightened him, but because he simply _did not want them_. Like how whenever Wufei cooked, he had no interest in even trying the fish dishes that everyone else seemed to like. He knew he wouldn't like it so he never tried it.

Despite his feelings, Duo wanted to say that he was willing to go against his nature to be with Heero. Heero was perfect in every way, and Duo cared about him so very much, just… the thought of Heero kissing him, or having sex with him was… repulsive. It just didn't seem right. But Heero wanted that, right? So was he wrong to push Heero away for those things, when he cared about him so much? Duo just wanted to be with Heero, in every way that felt right to him, so should he be willing to accept the things that felt right to Heero, even though he did not feel the same?

Duo had hardly noticed the tears leaking from his eyes as the thoughts swirled rapidly in his mind. He jumped when the bedroom door opened with a creak, and for a moment he was filled with fear as Heero walked back into the room, laptop in hand.

Heero sat down on the bed again, noticeably leaving a few inches between them, unlike only minutes before. The taller, quiet boy set the laptop down on Duo's knees, opening the top to show the screen. Duo's eyes instantly began reading—a habit all the pilots had—and he thought for sure his heart had stopped. On the screen, was the Wikipedia page on asexuality, with a list of the different romantic attractions that asexuals had: heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, aromantic…

"Which one are you?" Heero asked, and his steely voice seemed a few tones softer than usual. Duo couldn't think well enough to process the other boy's obvious acceptance.

"I-I'm aromantic… but I…" Duo stammered, about to mumble something about willing to have sex with Heero if that's what it took to stay with him.

But the simple gesture of Heero reaching over to the laptop's touch pad, and highlighting the line "homoromantic: romantic attraction towards person(s) of the same gender – the romantic aspect of homosexuality", was more than enough to stop the words dead in Duo's mouth. He looked at the other boy, wide-eyed.

"You're not the only one, Duo. Our strength is not the only reason the doctors chose us to be pilots," Heero paused, letting his words sink in. "Yet they clearly did not expect us to care for each other the way we do, romantic or not."

And when Heero wrapped his arms around Duo this time, in just a hug and nothing more, Duo knew that he could be with Heero forever—not as lovers but as _partners_, as two parts of an inseparable whole—and not have to sacrifice any part of himself for that true bond they shared.

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**we've always assumed that heero and duo are gay, but what if neither of them want sex? very interesting to see the fandom from this lens. btw, aromantic means not being romantically attracted to people-but inseparable bonds with people can still be made. they're just not the usual definition of 'love'.**

**i'd really like to get some reviews, i'm quite interested in your guys' opinions. unless you're gonna flame me. if you're gonna be cranky about asexuality, i dont think you belong in the yaoi universe, or any other lgbtqa corner of the internets, for that matter! :D**


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